Oh, What A Tangled Web We Weave
by JkayChase
Summary: "Welcome, my princess-"   I slammed the door in the cosplayer's face, thoroughly creeped out.  Ouran was obviously a school for not only rich snobs, but also rich idiots.
1. A FireEncrusted Sky

"No."

My mother pursed her lips together, holding the picture of the school uniform. The yellow, frilly, satin monster of a uniform. What kind of school was Ouran, anyways?

"If it's the money you're worried about, we have some saved up-we can even get you the matching shoes-

"_Hell _no." I gathered my stuff. "I'm going to be late for my first day."

"Honey-

Oh boy. Now with the 'honey' routine.

"-surely you'll want to where something other than..._that._" Mom said, gesturing to my outfit.

"What? This is my favorite shirt-' I defended, pulling at the black and red striped t-shirt hugging my pixie-like form.

'-and my favorite jeans. I even have new sneakers, and mom, you KNOW I love my old sneakers."

My mother sighed in resignation as I picked up my coal colored backpack, swinging it over my shoulders.

"Oh, by the way, Reika-you'll love this. Ouran has its own stables-you can ride your horse to school!" There was an unmistake-able scoff in her tone. I ignored it, smiling.

"...Why did you wait until _now _to tell me this?"

_**-X-**_

A few minutes later, I was leading a fully tacked up Toby to the mouting block outside our small barn. It was nothing fancy-we weren't exactly rich, so the barn consisted of a two stall barn connected to a pasture.

"Alright, painted monster, you ready for this?" I asked affectionately, smoothing over Toby's brown forelock. His blue eyes regarded me softly, and I moved on to pat his shoulder, which addorned one of the large brown patches that decorated his brown and white form. I loved his coloring. A tall black figure neighed his goodbyes to his pasture mate.

"Sorry, Takuto-maybe I'll bring you next time. I won't neglect you-your mom made me promise!" I called. A small smile played across my lips as the large form went back to his grazing, and I glanced at the wallpaper my cheaply made phone had. Two grinning faces spanned the cover, one my own, the other identical to my own. My heart twinged with familliar worry. I'd have to visit her after school.

"Wish me luck, Saya." I whispered, slipping the phone into my pocket and mounting up.

_**-X-**_

Getting to the campus was pretty easy. Getting in wasn't that hard, either-once I flashed my student ID to the guys in suits outside the golden gates. Did I mention this school was ridiculously fancy? It didn't even look like a school. The main building was a huge mansion-with a fountain in front of it. A FOUNTAIN.

Anyways, as I was saying, getting in wasn't that hard. Dealing with every single rich kids' eyes on me, however, was another thing as Toby carried me down towards the school. It wasn't like we were the only horse and rider in the crowd, either-several other people were riding horses too. However, Toby wasn't exactly a purebreed, and he was the only paint. He noticed their stares, and snorted, arching his neck and rounding himself underneath me proudly.

"Well, I'm glad you feel at home, buddy. That makes one of us." I said. It was true, too. I had never felt so out of place. Ridiculously, girls were actually wearing that atrocious yellow umbrella, and the guys were dressed in purple tuxedo-like uniforms. Honestly, I couldn't believe that people actually wore that sort of thing in this day and age. I loosened the reins, hoping Toby would stretch out his head and walk normal, as we were garnering enough attention. But of course, despite the floppy reins, Toby kept his body posture, proudly striding out as if he were carrying someone of high caliber.

"Thanks, bud. I'm flattered, honestly. But hey-

I leaned over closer to one of his ears.

"Think we can bolt for the exit and just plead that we came to the wrong school?"

"Madam, may I take your horse to the stables for you?"

I jumped, and Toby's head went up, wide eyed. Mirroring me like the good horse he was.

"Umm...no, thanks. I can do it myself. Where are the stables?"

The tuxedo decked man pointed to a path that led around the mansion like school.

"Right behind the school. Take that path."

I nodded, and Toby and I headed towards that path.

"Hey, commoner-ride sidesaddle as a lady should. It's unsightly, having a beast between a lady's legs. Then again, you can't really be considered a lady, can you?"

My head snapped around, eyes narrowed and finding a plump teenager to the left of me, a smirk crawling across her pudgy face, atrocious brown curls bouncing.

"Hey, princess. Don't fuck with me." I snapped, letting a contradicting too sweet grin cross my face.

The girl's eyes widened as a chorus of gasps surrounded me. Several of the guys averted their eyes uncomfortably. However, a snort behind me caught my attention. Two red haired boys were doubled over in silent laughter.

"Oh, Kaoru, that was classic!" one of them managed. The other didn't reply. When they looked up, I could see matching faces. Twins. A twinge faltered my train of thought, and with a cluck and a change of weight, Toby sprang into a canter down the brick pathway.

_**-x-**_

Toby had settled into the barn with an air of royalty, sniffing the hay I tossed him, before munching it up. His blue eyes settled on me, as if saying 'this is the kind of treatment I deserve, every day'. I chuckled, before digging in my pocket and giving him a horse treat. I rubbed his forehead.

"I'll come back during lunch to check up on you, bud. But I gotta go."

_**-X-**_

I managed to find my way to my first class with time to spare. The hallways were extravagently decorated, with chandeliers and red carpeting. It was a bit overhaul for a high school, I noted. Thankfully, the classroom seemed normal. However, as soon as I walked in, every stare was turned towards me. I noted, as well, that I was the only one not wearing one of the silly uniforms. Considering the uniforms weren't required-just a suggestion, it surprised me how many teens wore them.

The girls whispered among themselves-though they were clumped in different groups, the whispers seemed the same. "Is that the new scholarship student?" "Her outfit is horrendous." "Did you see the horrible creature she rode in on?' "Does she even have a car?" "Poor people can't afford them."

I glared, feeling irritated already. More than ever, I wished Saya was here, by my side like she should be. She'd know exactly what to say to solve the problem. But as she wasn't...I stalked to a desk in one of the back corner of the room. I took off my backpack, grabbing my notebook and a mechanical pencil, starting a sketch of a rose.

"Hey-my name's Haruhi Fujioka. You're the other scholarship student, right?" I looked up at the soft voice. A small boyish looking girl stood before me. Her hair had been cropped short. I liked it.

"Yea-hi. I'm Reika Fumiko. So you're a scholarship student too?" I asked, instantly liking her-for more reasons than one. She was the only girl who was wearing a boy's uniform-and that was something I had to respect. She also seemed halfway normal, unlike the rest of the rich snobs in the school.

"Yea. Would you-" I began, but I was rudely interrupted.

"Haruhi, don't randomly-

"Just disappear-

"Like that." a chorus finished. The two twins from earlier had magically appeared on either side of Haruhi. One of them mussed with her hair, while the other grabbed her wrist. I looked at them blandly.

"Are you two in love with her or something?" came my irritated question. They _had _rudely walked in on a conversation.

"Haruhi's a GUY!" they both chorused, ultimately too defensive.

"No...she's not...it's rather obvious she's a girl." I said, raising an eyebrow. And it was obvious-her feminely shaped face and her large eyes gave it away right away. But my reply had gone unheard, apparently. Hillariously, one of the twins cupped the other's chin.

"Kaoru's the only one I want." the twin with the slightly harsher tone of voice said.

"Oh, Hikaru...

A chorus of squeals came from the girls in the classroom, who had turned to watch. I covered my mouth, barely hiding a snort. Quite obviously, they were used to putting on a show.

"Hikaru, not in front of everyone, you're embarassing me."

I burst out laughing, unable to hold it in anymore. They dropped the act and stared at me.

"Pffft...Haruhi, these guys are your friends? Hahahahahahaha-

I laughed loudly, seemingly unable to stop. Finally catching my breath, I sat up, turning to my drawing again, pointedly ignoring them. It was a good way to get people to leave me alone-it usually worked.

"Hikaru, I think-

"There's something wrong-" the other twin continued.

"With her." they finished together. They, irritatingly enough, started poking at the back of my head.

"Come on, guys," I heard Haruhi futilely try to draw their attention away.

_Poke._

_ Poke._

"Hey, Haruhi, think there's anything in here?" One of the twins asked, poking my head again. The pencil in my hand snapped in half. I turned towards said twin, whose hand was still up in the air, tauntingly threatening another poke.

"Fuck. Off."

Unfortunately, it didn't have the effect I had hoped for.

"Oooo, Kaoru! She swore at us!"

"She swore in the grounds today too. No guy will want to date her if she keeps that up." The other twin, to my left, said. They both exchanged a glance, and said the next sentence together.

"Not that she's much of a lady anyways."

"I mean, come on, look at this haircut. You can only see half her face with her bangs in the way." one of them grabbed at a strand of my dark, shoulder-length hair. I twitched at the insult to my preferred haircut. Besides, both me _and _Saya agreed that it suited me.

"And really-that outfit, not feminine at all. " the other said, tugging at my shirt.

"It's made of cheap material too. Cotton?" the one that had my hair in his hand stopped to scruitinize my clothing, a sneer clear in his voice.

"And I suppose _your _clothes are made up of spun gold!" I snapped, pushing them both away roughly.

"Well, actually-" they began together. I snarled.

"I don't care. Input from Jackass #1 and Jackass #2 is not needed."

_That _got them. Their mirroring expressions of lazy scoffing turned to scowls.

"It's Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin!" They growled together. I raised an eyebrow, cooled off somewhat.

"Really? So you're both Hikaru _and _Kaoru?" Geez, these guys were annoying. Apparently, they hadn't gotten over the 'we're a pair of clones and you can't tell us apart' stage every twin set goes through when they're _six. _I eyed Haruhi, who was shuffling uncomfortably.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I slipped it out, seeing that I had a text from Saya. A movement caught my eye, and I moved the cell phone under the desk just as Jackass #1 grabbed for it.

"Oi, go with your girlfriend." I snapped, causing said twin to blush brightly. The other raised his eyebrow. _Ha. So there IS a subtle difference between the two. _

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Haruhi snapped this time. Oops.

"Sorry, Haruhi. I didn't mean to get you angry." I apologized, causing one twin to scowl deeper.

"Apologize to me too!" he snapped.

"Absolutely not. You and your look alike started it."

They both looked ready to punch me.

_**-X-**_

_"Saya, come on," mom motioned to me. I bit my lip, tears filling my eyes. Even __**mom **__couldn't tell us apart?_

_ "No, mom, I'm Reika." I corrected, holding Saya's hand tightly. _

_ "Oh, I'm sorry. Saya, let's go." mom said, instead taking Saya's other hand._

_ Saya let go of my hand and patted my head. "s'okay, Rei. I'll bring you back something, I promise!"_

_ With that, once again, mom took Saya and left me in the apartment with dad. On our sixth birthday, no less. _

_**-X-**_

I almost regretted the look alike comment. Almost. But seriously, they were the ones stupid enough to keep their appearances matching. If being told apart was so important to them, they should have tried harder.

I looked at the text message.

_I am BORED outta my mind, Rei! You're going to visit after school, right? By the way, how's that going? I am SO proud of you for making it into Ouran. You rock em dead, girl!-Saya _

I smiled. Typical Saya.

"Who are you texting?" One of the twins asked politely. I glanced over, and saw Haruhi talking to the other twin in a hushed voice. He was looking away from her with his arms crossed. So she had had something to do with this twin's attitude change.

"My sister. Which one are you?" I asked.

"Kaoru." I made a mental note-the nicer one was Kaoru.

"Well Kaoru, I give you your merits. Seems at least one of you Hitachiins is smart."

A small smile played across his lips.

Finally, the teacher came in. Haruhi and the twins retreated to the back of the class, and class began. Rebelliously, I texted under my desk.

_Saya, you wouldn't believe these kids. Everyone in here is wearing tuxedos and prom dresses! And not just tuxedos and prom dresses-no, PERIWINKLE tuxedos and YELLOW prom dresses. YELlOW. And yea, I'm coming over after school.-Rei _

_Yellow prom dresses? I'm not against wearing dresses to school-but what kind? Although seeing guys in periwinkle tuxes sounds hillarious, too. And keep your voice down when you come today-the old lady in the bed next to me complained last time. -Saya_

_They're not even wearing halfway decent dresses. They're all puffy and froofy and looking- __like a cross between a marshmallow and an umbrella. I'm not even a dress person, either, as you know...I wouldn't like the idea either way. No comment on the crazy old broad. -Rei_

_I suppose you're wearing your regular clothes then, instead of the school uniform? Your punk rock style is adorable on you-I hope you didn't scare the poor kids with your skull and chain attire.-Saya_

_I'm so beyond scaring them-terrified is a better word for them. I rode here on Toby. -Rei_

_ROFL! I wouldn't expect any less from you, my dear sister. -Saya_

_Thanks. How are you feeling today?-Rei_

_I'm doing better than before. Doc says if this keeps up, I'll be able to come home soon.-Saya_

_How soon?-Rei_

_Soon enough. In a week or so, if everything looks good. I still can't believe I'm wearing your hair.-Saya_

_Technically it's our hair. We have the same hair, whether we like it or not.-Rei_

_True. And the same eyes, the same face, the same height, ect. -Saya_

_Yep. Except now you're bald. Baldy. -Rei_

_And your hair is cropped short-Saya_

_Yea, still not used to it.-Rei_

_But the hair trim I gave you afterwards looks awesome.-Saya_

_And you whined the entire time you did it about how 'emo' it was.-Rei_

_Only because you didn't agree to the curls.-Saya _

_Damn right I didn't.-Rei_

_:) -Saya_

We texted back and forth all through the first day. There was something wrong with the teachers at this school, seriously. Half the students were texting in plain sight and no one was doing anything about it. The classwork was a breeze too-I finished most of my schoolwork in class. Half the teachers just didn't care-they gave you the page numbers and questions and left you to it.

Unfortunately, there was one rather annoying problem. Well, two annoying problems and one not so annoying problem. Haruhi and the Hitachiins were in almost every class I had, except choir. Haruhi was fun to hang around, and stuck with me most of the time-and as a result, so did the twins. Kaoru didn't seem quite so hostile, however, Hikaru blatantly kept his distance, glaring at me every chance he got. I guess it was better this way-easier to tell them apart, anyways.

"Fumiko-chan, you understood everything in our last class, didn't you?" Haruhi asked. The twins walked stiffly behind her, at one point Kaoru pointedly put himself between me and her. Possessive much? I ignored them, folding my arms behind my head lazily as I walked.

"Yea, it was all pretty easy. You?"

"Haruhi doesn't need help from the likes of you." Hikaru snapped. I rolled my eyes.

"I had a little trouble with question fourteen-the equation was tricky." Haruhi replied, coldly ignoring Hikaru. Hikaru's eyes widened, and then he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away, scowling.

"Really? I can help you with that after school if you want-" I offered peering around the silent Kaoru and momentarily forgetting my promise to Saya.

"No-I uh..have other plans."

I raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"What plans?"

"Haruhi has plans with us." The twins said simultaneously, each wrapping an arm around her posessively. I yawned.

"You two are ridiculous, really." I said lazily.

"But that's alright, I forgot I had plans with my sister already." I said. Haruhi looked up at me, her dark eyes innocently wide, reminding me of a deer.

"You have a sister?" she asked.

"Yea! She's awesome-

"Is she as ugly as you?" Hikaru, of course. Heated anger flashed dangerously through me. My sister's sickness had set both me and Mom on edge, especially since she was diagnosed right after Dad died. My eyes narrowed.

"Shut the hell up, you bastard." I snarled coldly. Hikaru laughed, and rather unwisely, chose to continue the teasing.

"I bet she is, isn't she? I-

"Shut up!" Haruhi brought a fist down on Hikaru's head. Good thing too-if she hadn't knocked him one I would have.

"You don't go around insulting peoples' families! What would you do if someone had insulted Kaoru, Hikaru?" Haruhi snapped, fire in her eyes, looking at Hikaru pointedly. After rubbing his head, the twin responded.

"Kill the person who insulted him, of course."

I had had enough of this. I picked up my pace, distancing myself from the trio.

"See you later, Haruhi, I have stuff to do." I called over my shoulder.

"Uh-hey-don't you need help finding your next class?"

"I can manage it on my own this time I think. Thanks for your help!" I replied, heading off to the final class for the day. After a few fumbles and stepping into the wrong classrooms, I did manage to find the correct one. Irritatingly enough, Haruhi and the twins were in the classroom before I was. I chose a seat and took out my cell phone again.

_Hey, Saya, I should be over there in about an hour and a half.-Rei_

I sat back, taking out my notebook again, shading in the details of the background of the rose. When I was finished, Saya still hadn't texted me back.

_She must be sleeping. _I thought, pushing back the hint of worry knawing away at my stomach. Or trying to. However, it was no use-from the time class started to the time it ended, I was unable to concentrate, instead constantly looking down at my phone, checking for a text message from Saya. There were none. And of course, the teacher gave us homework to research on. Or rather, find a book about a chosen topic in the school's library. Frustrated, I stuffed my books into my backpack, leaving out the school's map. I shot Saya another text, heading out the classroom door without so much as a glance back. Worry plagued my thoughts, making me even more irritated.

I fumbled around the school for about twenty minutes, before randomly opening a door.

"Welcome, princess!"

And slammed it in the cosplayer's face. ...Weirdo... I turned to go down the hallway, peering at the map again. Oh-I had been going in the wrong direction. I was faintly aware of the door behind me opening. Something snagged my waist.

"Oh, Princess, don't be shy-

My hand shot up, curled in a fist, making contact with the idiot's chin while my other hand grabbed his wrist and pried it off of my waist, twisting it at an awkward angle. I peered down at blondie's face.

"You're some sort of wacko, aren't you?" I said pointedly, staring at the weird get-up he was wearing. A robe of some sorts-looked straight out of the Sahara desert.

"Madam, I'll have to ask you to let go of Tamaki, please." I looked up, and saw more weird wackos dressed in desert clothes.

"The hell...?" I dropped Tamaki's wrist, looking up at them, feeling confusion swirl throughout me.

"Rei-Chan?" a familliar voice called out tentively.

"Haruhi?" I looked intently, seeing a short figure walk towards me. **_This _**_was what she had to do after school?_

"Oh. It's her." And of course, the twins' faces appeared behind her, underneath layers of satin. I blinked, too shocked to see them cosplaying to find it funny at the moment. I turned to Haruhi.

"Haruhi-this weirdo just randomly attacked me." I said blandly, staring as said weirdo whimpered and retreated to a corner and started planting...mushrooms?

"Weirdo?" came Tamaki's broken whisper.

"You're the new scholarship student-Fumiko Reika, correct?" A dark haired teen asked, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose and writing something on a notepad.

"Yes...

"So you're just like Haru-chan?"

Big, light brown eyes peered up at me under a mop of blonde hair. In his arms, a soft stuffed bunny sat comfortably. I paused, all irritation seeped away.

"CUTE!" I squealed, grabbing the kid in a hug. Haruhi smiled awkwardly, while out of the corner of my eye, the twin hufeed. "Go figure." they said in unison. After the massive hug, I set the small boy down. I raised an eyebrow, taking in the group's outfits once again.

"So...what are you all supposed to be?"

Blondie got up from his corner, and stood in front of the group, giving a sweeping bow.

"Milady, we are Ouran's Host Club."

I felt my eye twitch in disbelief. "Host...club?"

Only a school full of rich kids would have a club so...blatant.

I rolled my eyes. "Later." I waved, turning on my heel, and walking away away. That is, until a small pair of arms wrapped around my arm. I looked down to see the kid giving me puppy eyes.

"Will Rei-Chan stay for some cake? Rei-Chan is so cool!" he said, sucking on one of his fingers cutely. I bent down to his level.

"If I stay for just a bit, will you help me find the library?" I asked, playing along. He grinned widely.

"It's a deal! I'm Honey Mitsukuni, by the way!" He said brightly, grabbing my hand and dragging me in to god knows where.

A/N: First ouran fanfic-hope you liked the first chapter.


	2. Bleeding Rose

"So, Rei-Chan, what's your favorite kind of cake?" the kid asked me cutely, still holding onto his bunny. Despite what I originally thought, being here was rather entertaining. I could barely keep the grin off my face, trying desperately every so often to muffle my laughter as I heard the boys' antics. How in the world did anyone find them attractive? Well, whatever. It just left me smirking to see the cocky bastards of a twin duo decked out in ridiculous outfits. Plus, the room itself had been completely remodeled to convey a desert scene. Really, these rich people were idiots. Shouldn't they be spending their riches on something useful-like world hunger? They could probably feed an entire nation in Africa for a week with all the money they were spending.

"Well, cake in and of itself is a very awesome thing. But personally, I'm a carrot cake person," I replied to Honey-Sempai. Yes, Sempai. I was surprised, too. But I guess it was alright-his kiddish nature suited him. Honey smiled widely, and immediately ran off to the buffet table. A few moments later, he arrived with plates of insanely large carrot cake pieces. Not to mention the cake itself was decorated...insanely well. Seriously, was that _gold _sprinkled on the top? Needless to say, making fun of the twins and the rest of the hosts was forgotten as I immediately dug in.

Far too much time went by as Honey-Sempai passed me cake-piece after cake-piece. I think I ate a total of six before I finally couldn't eat any more.

_ "_'Really, Nee-Chan? You're full?" Honey's eyes were wide, as if he couldn't believe it. I laughed, not minding the 'nee-chan' part.

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" I joked. But seriously, I was full. My normally flat stomach was bulging slightly from the abuse it had taken. I glanced around. Tamaki was hilariously playing the gentlemen to a group of swooning girls, Hikaru and Kaoru were...well, being themselves, Kyouya (Honey had told me every ones' names over cake) was _still _on his laptop despite having four girls sitting there with him, and Haruhi was..well, acting like a normal person. Except for the fact she was posing as a male host. Good for her. Hey, wait.

"Is that a piano?' I asked, looking at the covered bulge in the corner of the room.

"Yea! But we don't use it," Honey said, lip quivering, positively drooping.

"It'd be fun if we had Tama-Chan playing the piano-he's really good at it." he said sadly. I grinned. Why not? I was in a good mood.

"Come on, I have an idea," I said, getting up and heading over to the piano. Somewhat tentatively, Honey-Sempai followed, shadowed by Mori. For the most part, our movement was ignored-everyone was too engrossed in flirting. I brought a hand to my face, muffling a laugh.

I pulled out the bench, pulling the cloth from the piano. My eyes widened at how..pretty the piano was. All shiny and black, the keys just polished. I contemplated. My singing voice wasn't nearly as good as Saya's...I could probably get away with just playing the piano. But that wouldn't be nearly as fun. I grinned, turning to Honey.

"Do you know 'Someone Like You?'" I asked. He nodded, sucking on a finger. "Great! My sister and I sing together all the time when she's bedridden-want to sing with me, so I don't feel weird?" I asked. Honey-Sempai smiled wider, if possible.

"Sure, I'll sing with Rei-Chan!" he couldn't have looked happier than if I had told him I was taking him to Disneyland.

I found the place on the keyboard, and placed my hands there carefully, momentarily thinking back to make sure I had it all memorized. Confident, I pressed the right keys, beginning to play. I looked over at Honey-Sempai, catching his eye and taking a deep breath. He got the cue and we started together, thankfully.

"I heard that you've..settled down, that you've found a girl, and you're married now,"I began, reaching for the lower octave, willing the notes to come out clear. I was satisfied when my voice came out strong, ringing soundly from the many hours of practice. Singing wasn't just singing to me. Saya and I had always loved singing, even before she was diagnosed with her sickness. We did recitals and karaoke'd together. We worked hard at it, too-we'd sit in our room for hours practicing notes, just to get it right.

I allowed more volume to flow into my voice for the next verse, slightly surprised at Honey-Sempai's high pitched voice.

"I heard...that your dreams came true. Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you," I continued, allowing myself to feel the glowering in the last sentence that the song meant to have in it. My voice rose with a hint of spite in it now, carefully placed-Saya had gone over it with me many times.

"Old friend, why are you so shy? Ain't like you to hold back, or hide from the light." my tone was almost mocking now. I dropped the acidic tone with the next verse-the moment the piano played more dramatically was the time for a different emotion-nervousness.

"I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited, but I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it-I had hoped you'd see my face and be reminded that for me...it isn't over."

"Nevermind! I'll find someone like you," I brushed off the nervousness with determination, faintly aware that Honey-Sempai had stopped singing and noting the increase in my volume.

"I wish nothing but the best for you, too." I sang earnestly, playing the character, wanting to believe the words. The next verse was a howl to the sky.

"Don't forget me! I begged!" at this point everyone had stopped talking and were now staring. I faultered for a moment, wishing for Saya's voice to join me, but then continued on with the same energy.

"I remember you said!...Sometimes it lasts in love and sometimes it hurts instead." I threw in my own jangle, shutting out the fact that people were staring and instead focusing solely on the music.

"Sometimes it lasts in love, sometimes it hurts instead." I was mournful, plainly thinking of Saya's pale face in the hospital bed. I shook the thought from my head, and continued on, nudging Honey-Sempai to join. But he didn't.

"You know how the time flies-only yesterday was the time of our lives," I said, a grin widening across my face as I remembered riding horses with my sister.

I spoke for the both of us with the next sentence-it had a double meaning to it, not just the author's meaning.

"We were born and raised in a summer haze, bound by the surprise of our glory days." I couldn't keep the smile off of my face, as I returned to playing the role of the long lost lover of... someone.

"I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited but I couldn't stay away-I couldn't fight it I had hoped you'd see my face and be reminded that for me, it isn't over.."

I imagined the long lost lover turning and walking away with the next repeated verse, putting all I had into the energy of it.

"Nevermind-I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you too..."

I took a breath, blasting the next. "Don't forget me! I begged! I remember you said!"

Confidence was seeping into me now-gone was all doubt in myself.

"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead-" I let my voice slide up an octave during the last note-adding my own style, having fun with how singing the notes felt. I felt like laughing, it was so much fun. I brought my voice up powerfully, throwing my energy into it.

"Nothing compares! No worries or cares! Regrets and mistakes that your memories made! Who would have known how-

I let the energy fade from me, softening to a lull. "-bittersweet this could taste." I paused, hands held daintily over the keyboard. I softened my volume, but kept the power in the verses.

"Nevermind, I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you...too." The last word was nearly a whisper, but somehow highpitched and clear. Bringing my energy up, I drove down on the keyboard, powering out the repeated verse haughtily.

"Nevermind I'll find someone like (I held this one longer, nearly yelling it) you! I wish NOTHING but the best for you, too. Don't forget me, I begged! I remember you said-sometimes it LASTS in love," my voice dropped, filled with suppressed sadness, squeezing my eyes shut for the next sentence. "But sometimes it hurts instead." I bit my lip momentarily, very much lost in the song. The finishing sentence was filled with bittersweet victory, mocking, but yet somehow smooth.

"Sometimes it lasts in love, and sometimes it hurts instead."

I blinked as my fingers finished up the song of their own accord. I was brought back to reality. The entire room had gone silent, every eye on me. The silence dragged on painfully long, until a certain idiot broke it.

"So that's how she got the scholarship." Jackass #1, obviously (otherwise known as Hikaru...Kaoru was nicer so he was Jackass #2). All at once, the room was filled with voices, excitedly speaking. Honestly, you'd think they hadn't heard anyone sing before.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out-finally, she had responded.

_ Hey Rei-sorry, I fell asleep. Things are so BORING here without you-you're late, by the way. Forty-five minutes late, to be exact. Where are you?-Saya_

I paled.

_Sorry-got sidetracked. On my way now!-Rei_

With a hurried goodbye to Honey-Sempai, I rushed out the door, grabbing my backpack on my way out.

_**-X-**_

The fast gallop home left a crabby Toby-who nearly bucked me off, by the way-, and an inexcuseably dirty me for a hospital visit. I practically threw Toby in his paddock, rushing into the house and straight to the shower without so much as a greeting to my mother.

"Where's the fire?" she had called.

I scrubbed my body and hair fiercely-I did not want to be the cause of Saya catching something, on the off chance. I dressed in a flurry so violent I nearly ripped my clothes-several times. In record time, I bolted down the stairs, out the door, to my motorized scooter. Mom came out the door while I buckeled my helmet on. She rested her hands on her hips.

"Where are you going?"

"Hanging out with friends." I lied, turning to the scooter and starting its engine. She pursed her lips.

"Be back in time for dinner!" she called as I slid smoothly out of the driveway into the busy streets of Tokyo.

There was a reason I had lied. Saya was mom's baby girl, so to speak. If I had told her where I was really going, she would have wanted to come with. And where Saya was concerned, to mom everything kind of faded into the background...including me. I didn't hold it against her-I understood. Saya was just as important to me too. I just didn't want mom hogging her-otherwise I'd never get to spend quality time with Saya anymore.

The drive there was the same as usual-me ducking around cars, dodging traffic, pissing off already pissed off drivers with my teenage antics. In no time at all, I rolled into the parking lot of a large building labeled "Tokyo Cancer Research Department".

_**-X-**_

The attendent greeted me with a smile, and let me in immediately.

"How are you doing, Reika?" was the greeting. "Great! Off to see my girl!" I responded cheerfully, jogging towards the elevator and pressing the up button. The attendent, as usual, gave me a nod and returned to her work. The elevator doors slid open with a ping, and I dodged in, pressing the number '10'.

_I'm in the metal tank now.-Rei_

_ Great! I can't wait! We should walk around-Doc took out the IV today.-Saya_

The elevator let out its usual ping as it opened on Saya's floor, and I headed to the left. Third door on my right, I turned, striding in. My twin grinned at my appearance.

"Rei!" She cried happily, sliding off the hospital bed and walking towards me. I grinned, taking in the sight of her fully dressed in jeans and a pink tank top-she had even put a headband in her hair/wig today. I reached out and hugged her, and I felt the strength in her arms as she hugged back.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." I said. Saya frowned taking her hand and fussing with my still-wet hair.

"You didn't style it this time." she pouted. "I did all that work to bring out your personality in it too-no fair!"

"Sorry." I said sheepishly. Saya rolled her eyes, taking my hand.

"Come on, let's head to the cafeteria. I'm starving-and sick of other people choosing my food for me."

It was like it used to be in old times. We were twins, sure, but we were two different sides of the same coin, as was apparent in our clothing. What an odd pair we must've made-me clad in my skull and rose black t-shirt and matching black cargo pants with chains attatched, and her wearing her stylish jeans and slightly frilled pink tank top.

I smiled as she pulled me along, watching her carefully, but allowing hope to seep into me. Maybe she WOULD be able to come home for good this time. Her usually pale white skin had some color to it, and her hand in mine was warm instead of cold. Her eyes, as well, the unusually bright hazel eyes that mirrored mine were back to being filled with bouncy energy, not an ounce of exhaustion touching them. She wore her hair/wig loosely today, only being pulled back by a headband, the dark strands swishing across the middle of her back with every step she took. I grimaced, remembering what it had been like to have hair longer than that-it had been a pain. But I had grown it out anyways, knowing that one day the chemo treatments would cause Saya's real hair to fall out. However, it had been an absolute relief to have the wig maker snip off two and a half feet of hair from my shoulders.

We reached the elevator in no time at all, and Saya turned to me.

"So tell me all about Ouran. Besides the fact that you think the dress code is awful, you little rebel," she finished, patting my head affectionately.

"We're the same height, idiot." I grumbled, not enjoying being called small.

"Yes, but I'm-

"Two minutes older," I scoffed, crossing my arms. "A whole two minutes! Big whoop."

Saya flashed her white smile. "Whatever you say, _little _sis. So-have you made any friends yet?"

"Not really. Ran into a whole lot of idiots, though," I replied. The smile on her face faltered, just a little. I quickly barreled on-for whatever reason, my comment had made her sad, and above all-I would _not _make Saya mad.

"They have a host club. A _host _club. Can you believe it? Of all the clubs the school has to have, they added a _host _club onto it. It's full of moronic idiots, and a pair of twins who haven't left the clone cycle, by the way. But this one kid in it named Haruhi Fujioka is alright, I guess. She's posing as a guy, though. And-and there's Honey-Sempai." I tried to sound interested-I knew Saya wanted me to meet other people and open up to someone other than just her-in case the cancer did take her. What she didn't understand was that she wasn't _going _anywhere-I had even taken up a part time job a few months ago to help with the cost of her treatment. I didn't tell her that, of course-it wasn't necessary. Even so...I had to respond to her faltered smile with _something _that would brighten it up.

And it worked.

"So, tell me about this Fujioka person, then. And the twins." Saya said, her smile brightening, leading me out the door of the elevator as they slid open to the lower level. The smell of cafeteria food reached our nostrils, and Saya flew towards the food, me in tow. If there was anything we had in common besides looks, it was our love of food.

"Fujioka's the only one that's halfway normal in a bunch of lunatics. The Hitachiin brothers...made sure to make themselves almost exact copies of each other. Though one is a bigger jackass than the other-Hikaru, I think. And then-

Saya turned her head to cough as she reached for an apple.

"Saya?" Even I could tell my voice was pathetically laced with worry. The coughs wracked her frail form powerfully. I reached up to pat her back, waiting for the coughs to subside. When they didn't, I shot the cook a look. She nodded, and rushed back to press the emergency button. Finally, Saya let out a wet, squelching cough. From my position over her shoulder, I could see red color her hands. She stood there, swaying. My stomach twisted, and I put one arm under her legs, the other supporting her torso. I lifted her with ease-I could easily feel through her shirt that she was barely skin and bones. You don't really have time to think when a person you care about is sick like Saya is. You can only act when you see it-and sometimes that's hard for most people. But Saya and I had been in this situation many times before, so I was quick to act. I knew that while it may be nothing, it could also mean that we needed to go into surgery again-I was her twin, a perfect match to anything that she needed. So when she went into surgery, most of the time, so did I. Spinal fluid, blood cells, even half a liver-I didn't really care. Whatever it took.

I raced to the elevator, checking her vitals. Her body was fast becoming cold, and and her cheeks were reddened by a growing fever.

"Rei-I'm okay-put me down. You don't have to worry." Saya said softly. But her limp body said otherwise. I could hear a soft wheezing sound coming from her.

"Stupid." I muttered. Saya relaxed in my arms-too limp. I glanced down again, relief flooding me for a moment when I saw that her chest was still rising and falling with her wheezing breath.

"Saya!" I snapped, pausing to smack her cheek to waken her. No response. My stomach twisted, and the elevator door opened. In a flurry of white, coated people with face masks took my sister from me and put her on a stretcher. They took off at a run, and I followed, of course. The one pushing the stretcher from the back turned.

"It's best if you stay back, miss. You'd only get in the way. We'll make sure to tell you if she needs anything."

I slowed, feeling utterly useless as they wheeled the person most important to me around the corner, towards the intensive care unit. My teeth knashed against each other in frustration.

"FUCK!" I snarled, slamming a fist against a white wall. We had just started to hang out-why did things always have to go wrong so quickly?

A/N: Hope you guys liked it-I did my best to make the singing part as un-annoying as possible. I do get irritated when people just shove in the lyrics for a singing scene, not even bothering to describe how the character's voice sounded. This chapter was also meant to show the relationship between Reika and Saya more clearly, as well as give intro to the situation the family is in. Well, R&R! More reviews=faster chapters (yes, I am bribing you shamelessly)


	3. The Proposal

A/N: Hope you like this chapter! I'm having fun writing this story XD.

_**-X-**_

I stood on standby, watching through the glass as my sister rested in the bed in the intensive care unit. The doctor came out to me.

"She's stabalized for now. It was-

"Her blood cells got confused again and started attacking her?" I asked. He nodded through his glasses.

"We're doing a transfusion now. And she's going to be put back on the IV she was on before."

I nodded.

"However, she is in need of spinal fluids again. Are you willing to-

I opened my mouth, but was interrupted.

"Of course she is. It's her fault that Saya got sick, after all."

Oh. I hadn't noticed mom had come. Her brown eyes accused me silently. I turned my head away from her-I had been the one to let Saya out of bed. I looked up at the doctor and nodded an affirmative.

"And as well-because her blood type is B-, we're going to have to ask for your blood donation for her sooner than usual this week. As well, she may need regular transfusions to keep her stable for the next couple of weeks so-

"Take all you need." I answered softly. The doctor nodded, and pushed a button. Being the determined mom our mother is, she pushed past me into the room, giving me a final glare.

A woman came out.

"Miss Reika?"

I nodded numbly, pushing back the feeling of disdain rising up at the thought of enduring more needles. It was for Saya-without me, she'd fade away. And I couldn't handle that. Not yet.

"Alright, right this way, Ma'am."

The spinal fluid injection was a different procedure for Saya-her cancer wasn't a normal type of cancer. It hadn't even been classified yet-thus why she was living in a special clinic for the time being. For whatever reason, her spine leaked its fluid, so every three months or so, she needed more-along with drugs. I was the best contestant to be her donar-my DNA matched hers in almost every way. Part of being twins.

For me, it meant having an insanely long needle pushed straight into my spinal cord while I was awake. Even with anesthetics, it hurt like hell. But I couldn't complain-Saya was always in constant pain. I wanted to help in any way I could.

Of course, spinal fluid wasn't the only thing she needed. Every time her white blood cells or her red blood cells became imbalanced to a certain degree, they attacked each other-thus why she was coughing up blood earlier. Because our blood type was rare, I had a permanent spot on the blood donar list-I'd come to the hospital three times a week and have my blood drawn for 15-20 minutes a session. That blood was then stored for whenever Saya, or another patient needed it. Of course, because our blood type was so rare, it was practically a private collection. Her liver had also failed on her-three times, and she had needed transplants. Thank god the liver was an organ that regenerated itself over time-otherwise I wouldn't have had enough to give her. There was a whole list of things that could go wrong and things that did go wrong on a daily basis. Most of them could be kept under control-but sometimes I was needed. Oh, and every so often she needed bone marrow, as well.

_**-X-**_

I walked out of the room stiffly, trying not to move my body or jar myself too much. I was slightly dizzy-I had gotten the blood draw done as well. The nurse had tried to get me to take a break and lay down for a bit-more blood had been taken than usual. But I wanted to see Saya.

She was sitting up, now, talking animatedly with mom. She waved, giving me a warm smile as I entered. I returned it, sitting down carefully. Something flashed across Saya's expression-sadness? But only for a moment-if you didn't know Saya like I did, you would have missed it.

"How are you feeling?" I asked. Mother stiffened at my voice.

"Reika, you can go home now." it wasn't a suggestion. Saya's lips pursed in disapproval.

"Mom, I want-

"No, it's alright." I interrupted Saya, flashing her a smile, getting up normally, carefully keeping my expression free of winces.

"I'm glad that you're alright. Mom, I'll see you at home. Later, Saya-I'll bring over some movies next time."

Saya sent me an 'are you sure?' look. I turned, walking away as cheerfully as I could muster, feeling mom's silence following me.

I got home okay, and grained Takuto and Toby, tossing them each a couple flakes of hay afterwards. Night chores finished, I finally gave in to the annoying ache my back was giving me, taking a long, hot bath to sooth it. With bubbles. And bath salts. Yea, I'm cool. When the clock rolled around to 10pm, I realized that mom was sleeping at the hospital with Saya, and I decided that tonight deserved a horror film marathon. Neither mom or Saya could stand watching horror movies-so it was totally my thing. On the way to the living room, I cast my eyes on the dining room table-another hospital bill. I looked at it, knowing that tonight's expenses would add at least 8000 yen. This month's hospital bill had come to a grand subtotal of 30,000 yen. And half of that we would not be able to pay for-even with the money from my job. The hospital had a monthly payment program...but... I bit my lip, before determinedly deciding that tonight was _not _a time to worry about it-there had been enough stress for the night. I fell asleep stretched out in the living room, popcorn bowl beside me, _The Grudge _blasting throughout. My phone was beside me-my alarm in the morning.

_**-X-**_

The ride to school was irritatingly slow, thanks to my stupid back. I had tried to canter anyways, but unfortunately found that I couldn't handle it-the pain was worse than normal. It had been a new nurse-maybe she had put the needle in too far or something. Toby knew the procedure, and walked as softly as he could, somehow sensing my soreness. I looked at my phone often-no texts from Saya yet.

One of the employees once again offered to take Toby for me, and I almost agreed, before my groggy mind came to its senses. Toby had a...rather negative past with people, and as such he was extremely suspicious, and if you didn't handle him right, he'd get aggressive. We understood each other in that retrospect-neither me nor Toby put up with people's shit anymore. Not needing or wanting a lawsuit, I declined.

After I took care of Toby, I realized stupidly that there were a whole five minutes left until the bell rang and I hadn't grabbed the library book I needed for the final hour of the day. Conveniently, the library was only open before and after school hours. I groaned, moving stiffly under my backpack as I headed to my first class, resigned. Today was _not _a good day.

"Rei-Chan!" a kid's voice called out. I looked up, and saw Honey-Sempai running towards me, Mori in tow.

"You rushed out last night-you needed this, right?" he asked cutely, passing me a book labeled '_All About Otters'_. Gratitude rushed through me.

"Thanks, Honey-Sempai. Aren't you going to be late for class, though?" I asked.

"Nope! Mori-Chan and I come here early to eat cake in the club room! I don't have my first class until third period!"

I bent down, wincing slightly as my back protested with painful pulsation. Immediately wiping the wince off my face the moment I felt it, I covered it with a grin, tousling Honey-Sempai's hair.

"Thanks for that, little man."

He grinned. "You better get to class now, Nee-Chan!"

I straightened as normally as I could, waving warmly and going to class.

_**-X-**_

"Hey Reika! Over here!" Haruhi called, gesturing to a seat beside her. The twins were behind her, along with Kyoya. One of the twins scoffed and turned away. Hikaru, no doubt. Kaoru just sat there, indifferent. I blinked, not used to people inviting me to sit with them besides Saya. I stood, indecisive. In the end, I took the seat Haruhi had gestured to, slipping my backpack off carefully. My phone vibrated in my pocket. I immediately took it out-surprisingly, it was mom who had texted me.

_We have to sell Toby for money for Saya's medical bills. -Mom_

I stared at the text, unbelieving. She..couldn't. Toby was all I had left of dad-and besides, I couldn't even describe how much he meant to me. Nearly as much as Saya, for sure.

"Good morning!" Haruhi piped cheerfully. _Yea, right._

"Morning." I responded sleepily, trying to keep irritation out of my voice. Haruhi blinked. "Not an early riser?"

"Not today."

"Fumiko-san. After careful deliberation, the club and I would like you to offer you a position as our guest's music entertainment." Kyoya, straight to the point.

"Cocky bastard," I managed. "Why?"

It was Kaoru, surprisingly, who answered.

"When you left, we were all bombarded with questions about you. All the girls wanted to know who you were, and if you were going to be a regular part of the Host Club."

I stared. He wasn't kidding-the look in his eyes was earnest.

"No. I can't-I don't have the time." I said. It was true, too. My part time job took up all my time outside of school and studying.

"Your sister, Saya Fumiko, is currently stationed in Tokyo's Cancer Research facility, correct?'

I stiffened, looking over at Kyoya with a pointed death glare.

"Yes, asshole. Any other personal problems you want to spout to the world?" I snarled. I was _not _in the mood. He took my angry reply coolly, pushing his glasses further up his nose.

"Yes, actually. According to my family's records, your family has had trouble paying off the medical bills."

"Your point?" I spat with as much venom as I could muster. Kyoya looked up at me, his expression unreadable.

"Become a part of the host club, and the costs accumulated by your sister's treatment, and any further treatment she may need, will be a simple matter taken care of by the Ootori family."

I froze. Both the twins and Haruhi turned to stare.

"You're...serious..." the twins and I said in unison. Both of them shot me a scowl, but at this point, I didn't care.

Kyoya looked up. "Quite. I put up the video an employee of mine recorded at your performance yesterday as an experiment, and in the past 12 hours, it accumulated over a million views."

Silence. ...what?

"As part of the deal, I want to record your songs, and sell them for the host club's profit."

I looked down. Of course there was a catch. But that...was almost like being published by a recording company. Something that Saya and I had always dreamed of doing...together. But...my mind flashed to the insanely large hospital bill on the dining room table. Then of Saya. We'd no longer have to worry about not being able to pay for the next surgery Saya would need to stay alive. Relief, and hope, surged through me at the thought.

"Alright. I'll do it."

Kyoya smirked. "I knew we'd come to an understanding."


	4. Pranks and Profits

"What, you don't like it?"

I stared at the thin skinned sparkling PINK dress. There were waay too many things wrong with it. One, it went too low in the chest area, two, it was pink, three, it was sparkly and all princess like-gag-, and four, the final, damning factor-the skirt part only went to mid thigh.

"No. I am _not _wearing that." I replied, narrowing my eyes and positively seething.

"Statistics show that the voice artists who wear the flashiest things are often most popular in the music department." Kyoya. I reached into my backpack, searching for scissors.

"My video online was popular while I was wearing my normal clothes." I insisted. Satisfyingly, I found the scissors, and brought them out, glancing towards the pink abomination with intent. Unfortunately, Kyoya saw me.

"Too true. Alright, take that thing away." Kyoya gestured to his henchmen-yes, I labeled them-and they obliged. Disappointed, I put the scissors away. When I looked up, Tamaki was leering over me.

"Get away!" I snapped, swinging a hand around to smack him. My hand was caught-by one of the twins.

"What's the verdict, boss?" they asked together. Tamaki moved my bangs out of the way of my left eye. I twitched, using my other hand to try to smack him again. The other twin caught it wordlessly. I contemplated twisting out of their grips, and elbowing them in their stomachs. I was irritated enough to act on it, too.

"Hmm...Kyoya, get on the phone with the hair stylist-

"Don't you TOUCH my hair." I snapped. Tamaki sighed.

"Don't worry, boss, we got her," the twins said cockily. I twisted my arms suddenly, flipping around. Their arms held firm, while my sore back protested loudly. _Damn it. _

"Well done, boys! Like I said, Kyoya, get the hair stylist. Kaoru, Hikaru, do her make-up."

"Like hell. I'll do it myself," I growled, slipping a leg behind one of the twins', pulling forward. He toppled.

"Kaoru!" Hikaru yelled, immediately releasing me to go check on his brother. I stood in triumph, daring any of them to come near me. The Hitachiin brothers turned toward me slowly, a glare in their eyes. Mitsukini hugged his stuffed animal tight. "Nee-Chan, you made them mad-look out." he warned. I smirked.

"Bring it on."

I ducked as the twins lunged at me, going to leap forward between them to escape-but one of them caught me firmly by the stomach. I threw my weight back, but he held firm, and the other caught a hold of my flailing arms. They lifted me up so my legs were dangling helplessly, and then dragged me to a chair.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?" Hikaru snapped, irritated.

"Shut up. You're a bigger one."

"You're the one who tripped Kaoru." Hikaru snapped.

"You're the ones that tried to trap me."

"And succeeded." Hikaru retorted with a smirk.

"Fuck you!"

"That's mature." Kaoru muttered. Hikaru reached into his pack, withdrawing a...make-up box?

"Oh, that's manly." I noted, showing no mercy. Hikaru's cheeks flushed.

"And what about your getup? What are you, goth?" Kaoru joined in, probably to defend his brother. I didn't particularly care.

"Nope. It's an all original, me style. Which you two seem to be lacking prominently." I retorted, faintly aware of my bad grammer in the first sentence. That comment earned me a glare from both the twins.

"Shall we make her look like a clown, Kaoru?" Hikaru growled.

"Yes, we shall." Kaoru agreed. I blinked as the air around them seemed to turn black.

"Ummm...

I didn't even have time to protest, as the twins buzzed around me, plucking at my eyebrows irritatingly and fogging my vision with a cloud of powder. For a moment, my anger was forgotten. _What the hell? Guys aren't supposed to know this stuff!_

"All done." The twins said, smirking. The gave me a mirror. I snorted.

"Nice, guys...pfft...hahahahahaha!"

Kaoru and Hikaru looked at each other.

"There's definitely something wrong with her, boss." They called to Tamaki. I stopped laughing immediately, glaring. Tamaki looked over, saw my face, and his eyes widened. He covered his mouth, trying to hide the chuckle. He straightened suddenly, going back into leader-mode.

"Boys, stop fooling around. Our guests arrive in ten minutes. Unfortunately, the hair stylist can't come today-it seems he has a cold." he said, returning to chatting with the rest of the group. I looked over at Haruhi, who had a hand over her mouth as she tried hard not to laugh.

"Kaoru, Hikaru, fix her." Kyoya ordered. Was it just me, or was a small smile on his face?

Before they could reach their make-up kit, I grabbed it.

"I'll do it myself." I insisted, with a small smile. They shrugged. "We got to do what we wanted to." was their response. Tamaki let out a loud sound of protest, but it was ignored. I headed to the left-the the bathroom. Yes, true to rich snob ways, each room of the school had its own bathrooms.

"I wonder how she'll come out, Kaoru."

"Commoners don't really know how to use make-up properly." Kaoru responded. Rolling my eyes, I stalked into the over-fancy bathroom. I sat in the comfy arm chair in front of the make-up corner and set the twins' case down, opening it. _Of course they'd have all designer shit. _I thought, looking at the rows of expensive make-up-half of it I couldn't even figure out what it was. Saya would have a happy fit if she saw it. I stared at the curling and flat irons in the corner of the box, contemplating. I looked up, snorting at how dark the black make up rings around my eyes were. They had put powder all over my face, replacing my tan with a pale color, and putting too-red blush on my cheeks. Indeed, they had made me look like a clown. A small smile tugged at my lips.

I began to wipe the make-up off, before grabbing dark brown eyeliner and a tube of mascara, plugging the irons in.

_**-X-**_

I walked out, immediately scrutinized by the group. Honey-Sempai walked up, grabbing my hand, beaming.

"Nee-Chan looks cool!' he declared.

"Well, it certainly isn't anything fancy...but it'll do for now." Kyoya approved.

"But-but-but..."

I turned my gaze to Tamaki.

"What?"

You're not fancy at all..." he sounded hilariously heartbroken.

"I'm not a fancy person. I'm just Reika," I answered. It was true. Saya was the fancier of us.

"It's about time, Tamaki," Kyoya noted. They all shuffled to the door-I noted they were, unfortunately, in their normal school uniforms. No laughing at what they were wearing today, other than the fact that it was a bunch of guys in periwinkle.

"Come on, Nee-Chan," Honey-sempai said, tugging.

"What-but I'm not going to be talking to-

"Quit whining." Simultaneous voices told me. Haruhi wordlessly took my other hand, while the twins pushed my shoulders. I stiffened at so many people invading my space bubble. I was not used to this-I was normally a loner. A comfortable loner, in fact. Except for Saya. Honestly, my twin was my only preferred friend-and the one I willingly permitted inside my space bubble. So therefore, my expression was _not _happy as I was pushed awkwardly to the front of the door, in front of everyone, waiting for a customer.

The door opened, revealing a group of girls in those god-awful yellow umbrella dresses.

"Welcome, princesses!" said everyone behind me. I stood awkwardly. One of the twins hit me in the back, roughly. Hikaru, no doubt.

"Smile." he said through gritted teeth. And I did, putting on my cutest face and waving-after elbowing him in the gut. Hard. He sputtered. Kaoru decided to give me a noogie in retaliation. I grabbed his arm, still smiling.

"Thanks, old _pal._" I said, digging my fingernails into his uniform covered arm.

"Anytime, shorty." he responded, a forced smile still on his face. I nearly growled.

"Umm..can we have a table with Hikaru and Kaoru?" Came a timid request.

"Certainly, ladies." The duo responded, pushing past me, each bumping one of my shoulders as they went by. I allowed a small smirk to cross my face. They had definitely chosen to mess with the wrong girl.

_**-X-**_

"Here's a list of songs that we would like you to sing," Kyoya said, handing me a stack of papers. I scanned through them-surprisingly, most of them were fairly popular songs that I already knew. I watched the twins carefully out of the corner of my eye-step one of success-observe your victim's habits. My evil smile grew as my plan began to form.

Singing at the club was fun, despite my first thoughts about it. Singing in general was fun, better with Saya, but to be honest, I loved the freedom singing alone gave me. When Saya and I sang together, out of practice, I was the harmony-she was the main singer. For good reason too-I couldn't hold a candle to her awesome skills. But still...it was nice to sing out alone. Be as loud as I wanted, without worrying about overpowering Saya's melodic voice accidentally. Play around with notes, add my own sound effects without worrying about being in harmony. I even got a few song requests, which made me the official DJ of the group.

_**-X-**_

I sat back, retracting my fingers from the keyboard.

"Alright-I need a ten minute break." I announced. Kyoya raised an eyebrow at his table-conveniently in front of the piano. I raised my arms, innocently.

"You guys have been eating cake and drinking tea and coffee the entire hour-I want my turn."

He sighed and turned back to his laptop-while the girls surrounded him gave noises of disapproval. For some reason, I was beginning to think he was using me as an excuse not to talk to girls. Which surprisingly-the girls in the tables closest to the piano had turned to watch me like I was some sort of circus animal.

Should I start balancing a ball on my nose, too, while clapping?

I passed the twins' table on my way to the bathroom, and again when I came out. I went to the buffet table eagerly, choosing a chocolate rasberry piece of cake, along with a big no-no for a singer-a soda. Oh well. I'd survive. I settled back onto the piano bench, setting my cake and soda on the top of the piano. I turned the page and began to play the piano, letting my voice float up with the notes effortlessly.

_**-X-**_

"Ow! Kaoru!"

I tried to hide my smirk as I continued to sing. Kaoru's hand was mysteriously stuck to Hikaru's hair-in mid twincest flirt. The girls around them looked at each other wide eyed, helpless to do anything but watch the horrible scenario.

"What did you put in your hair, Hikaru?"

"Ow! Quit pulling, you idiot!"

"Uhhh...Hikaru?"

I couldn't keep the snort out of my voice-just a slight one-as Hikaru's hair started turning green with the contact that Kaoru's hand gave. A look dawned on both their faces.

"Reika!" They said in unison, turning to look at me. I smiled sweetly, pausing to salute to them, ever so perfectly continuing my line.

"Liar, liar, you played with fire-

They scowled, and I turned back to my music, thoroughly amused. I watched through my lashes as they left for the bathroom, Kaoru's hand _still _stuck to Hikaru's hair, which was steadily growing greener by the second.

_**-X-**_

"See ya later, Haruhi," I waved as she headed off for the day. Honey-Sempai seemed permanently attatched to my arm.

"Nee-Chan?" he said, tugging. I looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw the two twins coming towards us. Hikaru's hair was no longer red-nope, it was green. Bright green. The thing is, the concoction I had whipped up was a specialty of Saya and mine's younger days. The days when we both had been complete brats. Washing one's hair unstuck the glue, however-when the glue was unstuck, the dye spread through. And it didn't matter how hot the water was-actually, the hotter water gave the green a brighter shade, while washing it in cold gave the green a deeper shade. It seems Hikaru had washed his hair in hot water. Not to mention-it had an effect on skin too. So Kaoru's hand was green, too. It would take a whole two-four weeks to wash out or fade.

As it was, the looks on both of their faces were furious. Each had their lips pressed tightly together, eyes narrowed. Fire was practically coming out of their nostrils. Obviously, it had been a victory for mwah. They stopped in front of me, towering over me like a couple of raging bulls. Maybe pink would have been a better color?

"This means war." they snapped. I smiled.

"Bring it on, boys."

_**-X-**_

I walked into Ouran's tackroom, flicking the light on. A frown crossed my face. My saddle and bridle were gone, and above the saddle rack they had been resting on were the spray painted words "Beggers not Keepers."

Oh, that's original. Sighing, I fished around in my pockets-yes, there was a piece of twine from the horses' morning hay. I walked out to Toby's stall, whistling. He nickered, sticking his blazed face out to me with a cute expression.

"Hey bud. Guess we're going tackless tonight." I opened the door and let him out. He immediately rested his head on my shoulder-asking for a hug. Laughing, I hugged him and kissed his nose. I slipped the piece of twine around his neck, before throwing a leg over. With me securely on board, we headed home.


	5. The Past Haunts The Present

"Welcome home, Reika."

I looked up after kicking my shoes off. I flashed a smile. "Hi, mom."

She was sitting on the couch in the living room, eyeing me with a seemingly bright expression.

"You have homework?" she asked.

"Yea. But I'd figure I'd do it at the hospital." I said, not bothering to hide my plans this time. She frowned under her brown hair.

"Hon, I think it would be best if you didn't see Saya for a while. Saya's sick...she doesn't need any distractions preventing her from getting well again. You understand?"

My stomach twisted, as I faltered under my mother's soft eyes.

"Yea. I get it."

She smiled. "Good. Oh-and the matter of Toby. I want you to go take for sale pictures of him tonight."

I straightened, trying to find the courage to face her.

"It's alright, mom. We don't have to worry about Saya's hospital bills anymore-they're taken care of." I said softly.

"How did you manage that?" Mom asked casually, turning to fold a blanket. I froze. Telling her that I had accepted a singing deal...

"I'm working for a rich kid at school who has connections to the hospital." I blurted. _Smooth. _

"Reika!" Her tone was sharp. "We don't accept charity."

"I know-but it isn't charity, its-

"Reika!" I winced as her tone slapped me. She let out a disappointed breath fall from her. I looked down, avoiding looking at her.

"You'll have to go to your friend and politely decline their offer. Understood?"

"Yes, Mom."

She shuffled over, hugging me and kissing the top of my head.

"Hon, I know it's hard. We're going through quite a few difficulties. But everything will be alright. I promise."

I nodded, even though I knew better. There was no way we could afford to keep paying Saya's hospital bills. Small changes had been made-all lights were supposed to be off at a certain time, the time allowed in the shower was limited. We went for the cheaper products, and ate more canned food than produce. The horses' feed had been switched to a less expensive brand, and trimming their hooves was left to me. We hadn't gotten new clothes in a good year or two. But it was the small things that made the impact.

"Now-go get Toby cleaned up. I'll get the camera ready."

I shuffled, before reaching a decision.

"No."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Hon-we have to." her sweet tone contradicted her irritated expression.

"I said no." I mustered. I took a deep breath and plunged on. "He's not yours to sell, mom. Dad gave him to me. My name is on the ownership papers. And I've been paying for him."

I dared a look up. Her expression was icy.

"Go to your room, Reika."

I obliged, taking my backpack and scurrying through the hallway, turning right and opening the door to the basement. I tromped down the stairs-passing through the family room which lead out to the patio, and going straight to my room. No, not my room. Mine and Saya's.

I loved our mom, I did. Our relationship seemed bad, but really, it wasn't. She was just under a lot of stress, and I understood that. Saya was just as important to mom as she was to me. And we'd been having too many close calls lately.

The room wasn't your typical shared room-where half of the room was mine and half of the room was Saya's. No...we had decided to make it ours-a mixture of each other. The ceiling was a deep, dark blue, with little orbs covered in sparkles that Saya and I had worked on together hanging from it. The walls surrounding the room were a comforting deep violet that faded into the rosey red of the carpeting. Two twin beds lined opposite walls-one had a comforter that was black with a rose swirling around in its depths-mine-while the other bed's theme was deep blue with stars. Over each bed hung a picture of us with our horses-Me with Toby, and our ribbons, and Saya and Takuto, with her ribbons from shows. We each put up a poster of our favorite band/singer-mine an American rock band, while hers was a country singer. Other than that, the walls were occasionally decorated with frame photos of us together-riding, singing. Playing together as kids. Between the two beds, on a desk, stood a photo of Mom, Dad, me and Saya together-back in the good ol' days.

The far wall of the room was reserved for our music. Two microphones rested in a corner currently, while a keyboard sat on a stand against the wall. A guitar in its case sat next to it.

As if on cue, my phone vibrated in my pocket.

_Sorry I didn't text you today-I was sleeping. How did the day go?-Saya_

I paused before responding.

_Overall, it was pretty good. The Hitachiin brothers annoyed me, so I let loose a green sludge attack on them. -Rei_

I hesitated, finally deciding against telling her about Toby. She didn't need to worry about our financial situation.

_I'm kind of part of club, now.-Rei_

Saya's response was immediate.

_Really?_

I snorted. Was it that hard to believe I socialized? _Yes. I'm the host club's singer._

_ Great! We __**have **__to celebrate-sneak over to the hospital tonight. Bring movies-and popcorn. Oh-and be careful with the pranking. I know how amazing you are at it, but you could get in trouble. And being at that school will get you into any college you want-so try to behave? -Saya_

I snickered at the unintended contradiction in her text.

_So you want me to avoid trouble, but break into a hospital?-Rei_

_ Well...I miss you! And you won't get in trouble-there's 24/7 visitation hours here. They moved me onto the ground floor-into a private room. And not just a private room-one of those nice ones. It has a television and a computer, even! And a bookcase! It even has an air freshener-no more icky medicine smell! That was the thing I wanted to ask you about too-when I asked why, they said you had arranged it somehow? You're amazing! -Saya_

I smiled.

_I made a deal with a rich snob. Kyoya Ootori.-Rei_

..._What kind of deal?-Saya_

I paused, choosing my words carefully vague.

_I sing for the Host Club. -_I replied, repeating what had already been said.

Movement caught the corner of my eye. I turned, walking over to the small window showing the world above ground and stretching up on my tiptoes. Mom was walking over to Toby and Takuto, a bucket of grain in her hand, and a halter and lead rope behind her back. Toby was looking at her in interest. I watched as Toby let her approach him, while he shooed away his pasture mate. She set the bucket down on the ground-which he promptly dove into-typical Toby. She rubbed him a couple of times-and then reached to put the halter around his neck. Toby suddenly wheeled away, cantering a few yards away with a snotty toss of his head before turning and facing her again. Mom turned and grabbed the bucket, shaking it, before putting it down again. Toby walked over to it and buried his face in it, and Mom once again tried to halter his neck. He wheeled around again, surging away in good humor.

I watched this exchange for about twenty minutes, each time Toby grabbing as much grain as he could before wheeling away, or lulling her into a false sense of security by standing still for a few seconds before powering away. He really got into the game, becoming increasingly more spectacular in his escapes while my mom's body stiffened with frustration. Finally, when he wheeled, she hung on, being dragged by him. Sharply, she raised her hand and smacked him across the neck. Anger and horror snapped into me-but what happened next happened far too fast for me to do anything. Toby threw his head up and completely engaged, taking off in sudden fear, my mother sprawled out on the ground with the halter in his wake. After about a hundred yards, he stopped, and I saw him stand far too still, in a familliar position. A coldness seeped into me in realization, and mom tensed. At the same exact moment, Toby turned and hurtled towards mom, mouth open, ears flat back, the whites of his eyes showing, while mom launched herself towards the safety of the fence.

Toby ran at her like a raging painted demon. My mom's frail form scrambled for the fence, but he was closing in like a bullet. Crazed from fear, Toby raised two deadly forelegs, pouncing like a cat just as mom rolled under the boards of the fence-to safety. Toby's forelegs landed exactly in the spot mom had been a millisecond before, and he backed up, that awful, mad look still look in his eyes. He lunged forward at the white boarded fence, slipping his head through the space between the boards and knashing his teeth. Soundly, mom did the worst possible thing she could have-she smacked him across the face in punishment.

I threw the window up and scrambled through.

"Toby!" I called, trying to be as calm as I could. His head shot out from between the boards, stiffly raised, ears still back. As I ran towards him, his gaping mouth closed, yet his lips were still pulled away from his teeth. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he rocked back onto his hindquarters. Only a few feet from him now, I saw his coat covered in a sheen of sweat, trembles wracking his body. I slipped past mom silently, forcing myself to slow my movements and soften my body language. Knowing better than to speak or touch him, I instead took up a position about ten feet from his shoulder.

"What's wrong with him?" Mom asked, accusing Toby with her question.

"He's terrified. I told you he was badly abused before dad and I found him, mom." I couldn't keep the quaking anger from my voice.

"_That's _fear?"

"It's the best way to get the people he's afraid of to leave him alone." I replied softly. Mom stood quietly for a moment, and then walked off into the house. I glanced over-Toby was still rocked back, head in the air, eyes glazed over. He was barely breathing. I softly moved away, instead taking a stance three times a distance from him. I sat down and turned off my phone, knowing I would be there for a while.

_**-X-**_

_"Look closely, Reika. What do you see in his eyes?" Dad asked my twelve year old self, currently hiding behind his legs as the huge painted horse bared his teeth over his stall at us. The whites of his eyes gleamed._

_ "He's scared. But why is he scared, Dad?"_

_ Dad bend down to me, his blue-grey eyes mournful. _

_ "There are people in this world, Rei, that don't believe that a horse is a thinking, feeling creature. Instead of earning mutual understanding and respect, they will force a horse to perform for them through any means they deem necessary. In the process of doing that, they strip something very important from the horse."_

_ I folded my arms, glaring. "Those kinds of people are idiots, Daddy."_

_ He laughed. "Maybe so." he agreed, patting my head. _

_ "But why is he attacking people?" I asked. His expression grew serious again._

_ "By responding to people this way, he's gotten everyone to leave him alone. He's protecting his dignity in the only way he can."_

_ I nodded. Dad's eyes pierced into mine._

_ "Do you understand, Reika? He's protecting his sense of self-his spirit. And above all else, we must always honor a horse's right to his dignity."  
><em>

_**-X-**_

It was three hours before Toby let out a deep sigh and lowered his head. I watched him from the corner of my eye. He blew out, shaking himself and blinking. He continued to blow air out and shake off his adrenaline for a full twenty minutes, before lowering himself to the ground and rolling. That business finished, he got up, and made his way over to me. He rested his chin on my shoulder, letting out another large sigh. I reached up, twisting my fingers in his mane. We stayed like that until the sun set.

_**-X-**_

I zipped up my backpack, checking with a keen ear to hear that mom was still snoring. Given the go ahead, I adjusted the pillows under the blankets of my bed one last time, before heading for the window.

_**-X-**_

I walked along the side of the first building, a little non-plussed.

_Saya, are you sleeping? I have no idea where to look for you. -Rei_

It was only a few seconds before my phone buzzed in my pocket.

_Hey! I see you! Look behind yourself-you passed me, silly!-Saya_

I turned, and saw a small hand wave exuberantly in the dark.

"Hey! Over here! Didja bring the movies? And the popcorn? No horror, I hope you know."

I sighed. Of course. "Yes, Saya, I know. No horror." I said, walking over. She frowned.

"Don't sound so disappointed!" She said grabbing the back of my collar and half dragging me half helping me through the window. I landed in the bright room with a rather painful thump, and the shock sent me cursing from the pain my spine decided to give me.

"Oh! Sorry!" Saya said, giggling. I stared. Stared at the color in her cheeks. The fact that there was no IV in her arm. How brightly her eyes were shining-and overall, her old bounciness.

She twirled for me, wearing a brand new, sky blue dress, her wig shining, and flowing with her realistically.

"Isn't it great? I feel so much better now, Rei! All the medicine we couldn't afford before-I don't know how you did it, but suddenly they gave it to me! And the top cancer specialist in Japan came today-he's one of the world's best. He's going to be seeing me regularly from now on! I bet I can even go to school with you now-if I pass that enrollment test, that is!"

It was like she could barely contain herself-she was practically glowing, bouncing all over the place like a rabbit. Slowly, a smile made its way onto my face. It seemed unreal-that a medicine could make such a dramatic change in her so quickly.

"Oh, and _look _at this room, Rei! It's like a small apartment-I even have my own kitchen! See, see?" she scrambled over to an archway in the corner. My twin pursed her lips when I stood there stupidly.

"Come! See!" she grabbed my hand, dragging me over with surprising strength. Indeed, she did have a kitchen. And it was decorated with gold-fridge painted in gold, stove a striking gold color, mircowave black and gold. The kitchen's walls were a deep blue, while a chandelier decorated with what looked like diamonds hung from the celing over a rosewood table.

_Damn rich people. _I grumbled in my head.

"Where's the poporn?" Saya asked. I shouldered off my backpack, trying not to wince as my _still _sore back pained me. Bending carefully, I unzipped the backpack, unloading some of Saya's books, movies, and finally, popcorn. It was amazing how my school stuff and an extra pair of clothes for me fit in there at all, considering.

"Oooo! You brought everything!" chattered my energetic twin, who bent to lightly kiss the top of my head.

"Yea, I try," I said. I had brought her favorite titles-movies and books she would normally read over and over without getting bored.

Beaming, she turned to me. "I'll make the popcorn-if you'll put the books and movies on the bookshelf for me. Oh-put in a musical, k?'

"Sure, sure," I replied, grabbing said stuff and heading over to her bedroom/living room. Within minutes, the smell of buttered popcorn filled the room, and _The Sound Of Music _was blasting its opening in the room. Personally, I didn't like the movie. I was more a sci-fi, supernatural, horror, action kind of movie girl. However, there was one genre Saya and I could agree on-horse movies.

Saya took her place next to me and the night of inevitable singing along with the musicals began.

_**-X-**_

I woke up, feeling a weight on my back. I blinked. I was laying on my stomach, and Toby's head rested on my shoulders. I could hear him snoring. Yes, snoring. The memories of last night came rushing back.

_"Hey, Rei-you better get back. It's two in the morning-you have school tomorrow." Saya said, shaking me awake. I groggily sat up. "Yea. I have to check up on Toby too. See you later." I replied, grabbing my backpack and jumping out the window before she could ask wht happened to Toby._

_**-X-**_

I was aware of pair of feet on the other side of the fence.

"Morning, mom." I greeted, looking up. Her face was contorted. Torn over something. I waited.

"Rei..I'm sorry."

I wiggled out from under Toby, pulling myself to a sitting position and staring in shock.

Mom looked away, unable to meet my eyes. She shuffled her feet, looking much like a scolded kid.

"I just...I-

"It's alright. I get it." I said, cutting her off, and reaching a decision. I stood up, brushing myself off and grabbing my backpack, which was sprawled on the grass beside me. I waved to mom, before heading in the house to get ready for school. To my supreme satisfaction, my back's pain had finally dulled quite a bit.

_**-X-**_

"You're late." the twins greeted the moment I came in to third period. I blinked-why weren't they with Haruhi?

"Haruhi's sick today." Hikaru said, as if reading my mind. He had somehow managed to dye his hair red again, and when I glanced over at Kaoru's hands, I saw that they were back to normal-probably cover up. "Oh." I managed, going to my seat, feeling their gazes follow me. I inspected the chair suspiciously before I sat down. I blinked at the slight shininess the chair held. Sighing, I unzipped my bag, taking out a sponge and wetting it with my water bottle-using it to clean up the still wet glue.

"Weak, guys. Weak."

I heard a shuffling behind me, and I looked over my shoulder.

"Hey, guys? Where did you put my saddle and bridle? I kind of need them."

They exchanged confused glances. "We didn't take your saddle and bridle."

"It's not like we'd touch such low quality stuff, anyways." Hikaru began.

"Yea-we could see how scuffed up your tack was from a hundred yards away." Kaoru finished. I glared.

"Watch it, you two. My dad made Toby's tack himself." I growled. The twins grabbed each other in mock fear. "Oh, Kaoru! She's so scary!"

I sighed, taking out my notebook and doodling until class began.

_Thwak._

Irritated, I turned around. One annoying pair of twins were caught with straws in their mouths, mid spitball attack.

"Really? _Spitballs_, guys?"

They grinned mirroring grins. "Just you wait-" Hikaru began.

"The fun-" Kaoru continued.

"Is just beginning." They finished together.

For the next three classes, they stuck to me like an annoying pair of leeches.

"Don't you guys have something better to do than hang around me all day?" I finally snapped on the way to sixth hour. Unexpectedly, they each threw an arm around my shoulders.

"Don't tell us you don't enjoy our company."

I twitched, reaching up and digging my fingernails into their arms.

"_No. _I don't. As a matter of fact-I wish you two would leave me alone. You're annoying."

"Too bad. We want to see how our master plan works out." They said together. My irritation rose.

"Stop that."

"What?" They asked together.

"Acting like clones. It's stupid."

They both blinked. Then smirks grew across their faces.

"But its fun." they defended, in a toying manner. I growled.

"But, if you insist-' Hikaru started again.

"We'll stop it-

"If-

"You can tell us apart." they proclaimed grandly. I dead-panned. They were serious?

"You two are idiots. Kaoru's on my right and Hikaru's on my left." I said, bored.

"Nope! You got it wrong! Too bad for you!"

I snorted. "You're both lying. Not that I care, but I know I'm right."

"And how would you know that?" Hikaru asked.

"Are you sure?" Kaoru joined in. I sighed, and opened my stride, trying to outdistance them.

'Hey-where do you think _you're _going?" came the unified response, as they reached for my shoulders. I twisted out of the way and kept walking. Unfortunately, they sped up to keep up.

"Dumb game, guys. I'm not playing."

"Come on, now-don't be like that." Kaoru drawled.

"Yea-which one is which?" asled Hikaru. I stopped, reaching into my bag. I shook a bottle as they both turned to face me with an odd look. Geez, even their facial expressions were the same.

"So-what do you think?" they asked, leaning in. Keeping my expression level, I took the spray paint bottle out and sprayed both of their uniforms.

I walked away, leaving the twins to contemplate the new kanji decorations on their outfits stating their names. The twin on the left had Kaoru written on his uniform, and the twin on the right had Hikaru on it. The twins looked at each other as I walked away.

"Hmm..."

_**-X-**_

The twins once again glued themselves to me during lunch. But I had skipped breakfast that morning, so I was too hungry to care. I ignored them and opened my iced boxed lunch.

And stared.

Worms wiggled in my salad, replacing my french fried onions. Small cockroaches had replaced the raisins I liked to put in my salad. The container that once held my dressing now held something that looked like bird poop. My sandwhich ribited. Feeling the twin's eyes on me, I calmly took the frog out of my sandwhich, and used a napkin to wipe the poor thing off. I took my waterbottle and the frog outside, making sure to douse the frog with water before letting it loose.

When I returned, I saw the Hitachiins high five each other, chuckling. But my stomach was still grumbling, and I had no money to pay for the ridiculously priced school lunches. Furious, I grabbed my now ruined dressing container and threw it at Hikaru, while at the same time throwing the insect and worm filled salad at Kaoru. Girls (the stupid Hitachiin fangirls) gasped around me in protest. Positively snarling, I left the lunch room, heading straight for the stables to cool off.

_**-X-**_

I cantered Toby around the huge arena-having the whole lunch period to ride. That was one of the good things about the rich school-had a whole friggin hour and a half for lunch. Thankfully, after searching the tackroom's fridge, I managed to find a bucket of apples meant for the horses-and took a couple to fill my stomach. The few rich snobs that were chatting the the tackroom curled their lips up in disgust, to which I ever so politely gave them the finger.

The smooth slow rocking motion of Toby's canter soothed me, and I was able to focus. He was a wearing a rope hackamore-that much we had. But the bridle and saddle that had been taken were the only bridle and saddle made to specially fit Toby. As such, I was riding Toby bareback. There were a few other riders in the arena-all riding stiffly on big horses with big bits with shanks and chains on them. One was cantering around a jumping course-it was obvious from the death grip she had on the horse's mouth that she just barely had control of him. The other two horses were riding in the dressage corner of the huge arena-did I mention it was huge?

I relaxed, and Toby came to a halt. I rubbed his tri-colored mane, watching as the jumper careened around the arena on her big bay horse-thoroughbred, I thought-in her ridiculously shiny tack and obviously brand new breeches. The horse braced against the bit, eyes wide, strides short and choppy. They came to a jump, and the horse started scrambling, before launching himself over-and knocking a rail down. Immediately, the rider yanked the horse's head over and smacked it soundly across the rump with her riding crop several times. Irritated, I signaled Toby, and we trotted over to the fuming horse and rider. She looked up, her facial expression turning to one of disgust.

"What do _you _want, commoner?'

I folded my arms and bit down my irritation for the sake of the bay horse she was riding.

"Do you want help?"

"I don't need help from the likes of you!" She huffed. I snorted, and bent to the side. Toby followed my arc, touching my foot with his nose.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked, keeping a death grip on her dancing horse's mouth. I slipped the reins and the bridle off of Toby's head.

"Hey-that's not safe-!" the shock in her voice was evident. I ignored her, and garnered Toby's attention before signaling him to canter.

"Are you crazy?" she called, sounding terrified and amused at the same time. I turned my head, and Toby followed my gaze-bending him body and turning towards the first jump. The girl had been jumping rather large jumps-each at least three and a half feet tall.

Toby flicked an ear towards me, asking the question. I kept my gaze forward, answering it. I shifted my weight back, and he followed my suggestion, putting his weight back on his hindquarters-roundng himself. He propelled himself into the air, flying smoothly over the jump, and with a shift of my weight, he landed on the correct lead. I found myself smiling as we turned, picking a random jump for the next one. He launched over that one as well, letting out a little buck afterwards playfully.

"Alright buddy-let's go!" I said, bringing up my energy. And he did-he went from a canter into a smooth, terrifying, exhilerating gallop. He wheeled around at the slightest feel, flying over jumps, never missing a stride, never stumbling. The final jump he over-jumped, surprising me into a laugh. We landed and he powered himself away from it, coming to a sudden stop when I relaxed and slumped, making my body language clear. I turned. All three riders in the arena had stopped what they were doing, turning to stare. I gave them a salute and a smile, and, still bridleless, walked out of the arena.

_Take that, you rich snobs._

_**-X-**_

"Where have you been?" the twins asked as I walked in, causing me to jump. They sniffed the air a couple of times, wrinkling their noses.

"Ew. You smell like a horse." they said, peeling away with their noses held delicately away. I turned to them with a smile.

"I know!" I replied, taking my seat. Cautiously, the twins followed, seating themselves behind me.

"By the way-club activities are cancelled. We're all going to check up on Haruhi." Kaoru announced.

"That's nice." I said, in far too good a mood to be irritated. Kaoru and Hikaru exchanged a glance, slightly alarmed expressions decorating their faces.

A/N: **dies...**this chapter was looong. Now, I know there's a lot of pieces to follow, but rest assured, they're not random. I do have a plan for this story, and I do plan to take it to the very end. This chapter hopefully gave you more insight into who exactly Reika is, as well as her sister, and reveal a little more depth in the complicated relationship between Reika and her mother. I also tried to bring Toby to the forefront of this chapter-as he is a big part of Reika's life, and as a result, he's a big part of who she is, as well as being a crucial part of her past. I also hope you gained a little bit better grasp of the differences between Reika and Saya personality wise. As for the host club, I focused on the twins and Reika in this chapter and their growing friendship -fear not, the rest of the host club shall appear in the next chapter! Thanks for waiting these past couple of days while I put together this chapter!


	6. Fountains and Tantrums

"Hi, Rei-chan! Hi Hika-Chan, Kao-Chan!" Honey-Sempai called from his place on Takashi's shoulders. Takashi nodded in acknowledgement-he wasn't one to talk very much, I noticed. I snorted at 'Kao-Chan', noting its resemblance to the English word for cow...I made a mental note to put that into the next prank I pulled on specifically Kaoru.

"Rei-Rei-where's your bag?" he asked. I nearly smacked myself for my own stupidity.

"Be right back!" I said, heading back down the hallway to where our final class had been held. I sped into the classroom, heading straight for the desk I had used. And frowned. Hadn't I put it right next to the chair? I looked around the desk, as well as the desks around it. Nope, no black backpack with my awesome skull and crossbones keychain. Irritation rose in me. _Everything _was in there-I had even put my phone in there. I put my head in my hands, resting my elbows on the windowsill, and let out a groan.

"What's taking you so long, Rei- Rei?"

I peeked through my fingers at Honey's voice. And froze, disbelieving. My bag was floating in the school fountain, four stories down. My books were sitting at the bottom of the fountain, while my sketchbook and pencils and pens floated on the top with my pack.

"SHIT!"

I blasted past a stunned Mori and Honey-Sempai, along with the twins, and a frozen Tamaki, who had just joined the group.

"It's not ladylike to swear!" Tamaki reprimended.

"Like I give a flying fuck!" I snarled back, opting for the stairway, bolting down it faster than any rich kid could. They rarely used the stairs-they were just for decoration, practically.

My sketchbook was one of the first things I saved-or tried to. All the sketches-_all _of them, were blending into one another, ruined by the water. Growling, I grabbed my pack next, unzipping the sidepockets, and grabbing a very wet cell phone. I wiped it off with my shirt frantically, pressing and holding the on button. It sparked to life for a moment, giving me hope...and then died.

"Damn it! Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!"

"That's quite enough, young lady."

"Shut up Tamaki." I snarled, sending him cowering against the wall of the school.

"Scary..." he whimpered. I continued grabbing my books and pens, tossing them out of the water one by one. Two pairs of hands joined mine-one hand clouding the water with the cover-up that came off, revealing green skin. I looked up through the corner of my eye, seeing a pair of matching red head.

"Don't take this-" Hikaru said, his expression unreadable.

"The wrong way-" Kaoru continued, his expression mirroring his brother's.

"We just don't like-

"Other people playing-

"With our toys." they finished together. A couple of splashes, and a small pair of hands accompanied by a larger pair joined us. I fell silent, not really understanding it or knowing what to say. Tamaki soon recovered, and wordlessly, we all gathered my things. Except for Kyoya, who wasn't with the group anyways. I picked up the last of the pens, and dropped them in my bag which was being held open by Tamaki. As I took it, he thrrew an arm around my shoulders.

"My poor, goth ridden daughter!" he began, saying 'goth-ridden' like it was some sort of disease. I twitched.

"Fate has been cruel to you! But fear not, for I am here now-

I escaped his grasp, walking away wordlessly, trying to get my phone to work. Maybe rice?

"Give us that!" My phone was snatched up out of my sulking hands. The twins were joined by the rest of the group, all goggling over my phone.

"Easily replaceable. Do you want a better one?" Hikaru asked.

"Is this a commoner's phone?" Tamaki asked, peering over the twins' shoulders.

"Give me that!" he ordered, holding his hand out. The twins brandished it away.

"No way." they replied.

"Guys, give me my phone back. I need to try to fix it."

"How are you going to do that?" Hikaru asked, leaning over my shoulder.

"Yea, it's totally ruined." Kaoru joined in.

"Please, Rei-Rei-let us replace it. You can have this cute model instead!" Honey said from his regined position on Takashi's shoulders. I stared at the pink, bunny shaped phone he was brandishing. Really?

"How would you fix it, anyways?" the twins asked in unison.

"Old trick my dad showed me-put it in a bowl of dry rice for water damage." I replied, grabbing for it. Irritatingly enough, Hikaru held it above his head-about a foot higher than I could reach if I jumped.

"That's stupid." both Hitachiins said.

Not one to give up easy, I tried to pull Hikaru's arm down.

"Uh-uh. Just let us replace it."

"Hikaru, give me my phone back. Now."

The twins looked at each other, then leaned in.

"Are you _sure _that's Hikaru?" they asked together.

"After all, I could be Hikaru," Kaoru added in.

"No, Kaoru, you whine too much to be Hikaru." I snapped. Kaoru's eyes widened. Hikaru put a hand over his mouth, snickering. I rounded on him.

"Shut up Hikaru. You're the stupid one."

It was Kaoru's turn to snicker, and I grabbed my phone out of the shocked twin's hand. However, Tamaki took it out of my hands. I growled.

"Be that as it may-why do you insist on keeping _this _phone?" Tamaki asked.

"It's important to me-now give it back!" I snapped, jumping for it. Unfortunately, Tamaki was taller than the twins, and as such, kept it easily out of reach.

"Very well then-we shall try to bowl of rice commoner trick. How long do you need to keep your phone in the bowl of rice?" somehow, even asking a question like that without irking my nerves was impossible for Tamaki.

"Don't bother-just give it back. I'll do it myself."

Tamaki swept his hair out of his eyes dramatically. Pridefully. "Stubborn," he acused me.

"You really are a weirdo with an overgrown head. Now give me back my phone!"

"Overgrown...head? ...Weirdo?..." for a moment, it looked like Tamaki was going to go mope some more. Then he straightened.

"Hikaru! Kaoru!"

The two snapped to attention. _Great._ "Yes, boss?"

"Take this to the kitchen staff and tell them to put it in rice, no matter what odd looks they give you!"

I twitched. "Hey-

The phone had already disppeared into Kaoru's pocket, and the twins set off towards the kitchens.

"Honey! Takashi!" Tamaki called to attention.

Honey's eyes shined happily, while Mori grunted in response.

"Take Reika's bag and books, and have them replaced immediately."

"Yes sir!" Honey-Sempai said adorably, clambering down from Takashi's shoulders and giving me puppy eyes.

"Rei-Rei-can I please have your backpack?"

I faltered for just a moment.

"You...you don't have to do that. I just have to throw the bag in the dryer and dry out the books-

My backpack was tugged from my shoulder. Silently, Mori walked away with it, Honey-Sempai following.

"Thanks, Rei-Chan!" he chiped cheerfully, waving. I sputtered. "Hey-wait!"

I was rudely ignored.

Once again, Tamaki put his arm around my shoulders. "Fear not, poor commoner! We, the Ouran Host Club, will-

"Quit acting like an idiot."

Tamaki scuttled into a corner. "Why are you so mean to me?" He sobbed. Now, had I been in a better mood, I might have stayed with him. I might have even apologized. As it was, I was _not _ in a good mood. I turned and walked away-heading for the stables. It was the end of the day, and I fully intended to go home to relax before getting ready for work.

-_**X-**_

"Rei-Rei, where are you going?"

I turned my head, seeing Honey-and Mori walking towards me and Toby. We had been riding along the path that led out of the school grounds-specfically for horses and riders. Toby turned his head, mirroring me, and Honey's eyes widened. He brought his hands to his chin and let out a strange wiggle on Mori's shoulders.

"Rei-Rei, your horse is so cute! Can I pet him?"

"Uhh...sure?'

Honey-Sempai somehow launched himself off of Takashi's shoulders and landed in front of me, wrapping his small arms around Toby's neck and burying his face in his tri-colored mane. Toby raised his head slightly, then blew out and relaxed.

"He smells good too! What's his name, Rei-Rei?"

I blinked. Honey-Sempai couldn't have looked happier if he had been set loose in a candy store. I smiled-I could respect that. I loved horses too.

"Toby."

"Where'd you get him, Rei-Chan? I want a horse that has a coat like his!"

Takashi plucked Honey off of Toby's neck, much to Honey's dis-satisfaction. He magically procurred a brand new backpack matching my old one and out of his other hand, wordlessly handing it to me. I took it, noting the weight inside, and the fact that they had transferred my skull and crossbones keychain over to this one as well. How the hell had they managed to get everything replaced so fast? I couldn't have left Tamaki more than twenty minutes ago.

"Tamaki sent us." Mori said shortly. Honey stuck a finger in his mouth.

"Oh yea! That's right! He said you have to come with us to see Haruhi, and that we were allowed to use force if we had to." Honey-Sempai said this with a childish grin on his face. I waved him off.

"Sorry, guys-but I have plans tonight, and I can't reschedule."

"You mean your work, right?" Honey said, surprising me. "The maids found your uniform when they unpacked your bag." he continued as an explanation.

"Yea." I said, answering his question on whether or not I had work.

"You do know having a part time job while studying at Ouran is strictly prohibited." Kyoya said, popping up out of nowhere. I looked over, and saw that Kyoya, along with Tamaki and the Hitachiins had joined us.

"I have special permission." I replied rather smugly. The creases on Kyoya's forehead deepened, and his lips tightened slightly. The equivalent of a small temper tantrum from being out-witted. I made no effort to hide my smirk. Tamaki swept his bangs out of his eyes, looking around curiously.

"I've never been to the school's stables before," he said, somehow managing to make even that sound dramatic.

"I kinda wanna see Rei-Chan work." Honey-Sempai said, childish eyes wide with wonder.

"Sounds like fun to us." Hikaru and Kaoru said together. I twitched, thoroughly irritated at their clone act.

"No way." I protested firmly.

"Alright, then it's settled. After we visit Haruhi we will go with Reika to her part time job!" Tamaki said with a grand sweeping of his arm. "Hey!" I snapped, irritated at being ignored so blatantly.

"But Rei-Rei can't take Toby with her...I know! Toby can spend the night at my stable!" Honey-Sempai beamed, and Mori grabbed me around the waist at a look from Honey, plucking me off of Toby and setting me on the ground. Honey-Sempai took Toby's reins, jumping on without warning.

"No!"

But it was too late. Toby jumped, wheeling around and sending Honey-Sempai flying before Honey even had a chance to throw a leg over. Toby galloped a few strides, then stopped, coming straight back to me and pushing his head under one of my arms for comfort. Honey-Sempai had somehow managed to land on his feet. He was staring at the ground, his expression unreadable.

"Uh-oh," piped the twins.

"Look, I'm sorry. But Toby's not a horse you can just get on and ride. Besides," I said, irritated. "You shouldn't just randomly ride someone else's horse without permission."

Honey sniffed. Then, unbelievably, he started balling. The rest of the club, except Mori, shrank back, not knowing what to do.

"Wahhh! It's not fair! Wahhh!"

I twitched, walking over to him, Toby at my side. The guys cowering like idiots held their breath, as though I was walking into a war zone.

"Hey," I said, trying to catch his attention. Honey-Sempai stomped his foot and continued to ball.

"Honey," Mori said warningly. But he did nothing-just stood there as Honey-Sempai's temper tantrum began to grow. "Stupid Rei-Chan is a meanie! Wahhh!"

"Enough!" I snapped, grabbing Honey by the sides firmly and lifting him to eye level. His crying stopped immediately, eyes widening in astonishment.

"You done?" I growled. Wide eyed, he nodded. I set him down, patting his head.

"Thatta boy."

I took hold of Toby's reins and mane, meeting his eye and asking permission with my weight before getting on fully. I looked back at the host club. Even Mori looked like he had seen a ghost.

"We better get going, if we want to stay on schedule. I have to take Toby home and be at work by five."

A/N: showing more of Reika's character in this chapter. :) And I felt that Tamaki had been neglected in the story, so he got to show off some more in this chapter. I hope you liked it!


	7. Haruhi and Job Troubles

Haruhi looked absolutely horrified.

"What are you guys doing here? Get out!" She snapped from her bed. Apparently, not an even tempered sick person, either. Though I didn't blame her-I would have started throwing things at them if the host club had randomly shown up on _my _doorstep.

"Oh, my poor daughter-are you alright? Daddy's here!" Tamaki said, scrambling over to her bedside and putting an arm around her. One twin in particular was steaming with anger beside me. I let a small smirk fly across my face as I got the ball rolling, so to speak.

"Hey Haruhi-Hikaru likes you. He's getting jealous of Tamaki touching you."

Said twin choked and sputtered. "Am not!"

Tamaki gasped and grabbed an annoyed Haruhi's head in his hands. "You stay away from my daughter you pervert!"

Kaoru tried to wedge his fist through the top of my skull again, but I dodged, grinning gleefully as I threw Hikaru to the wolves.

"Haruhi-you should hug Hikaru. I bet he'd blush."

He already was (furiously, might I add. He looked like a tomato-and not just his head), while Haruhi laid back down on her bed, done with our foolishness already. I poked said twin on his side.

"So, what is it, Hikaru-are you going to cook for her and take care of her now?"

Both twins turned towards me, fire in their eyes.

"Why you!" came out a mutual growl, as they dove towards me. I ducked, letting them collide into an unsuspecting Kyoya-Sempai. Both froze, faces paling.

"Get. Off." Kyoya said icily.

"Yes sir!" Both twins said rather frantically, before scrambling off of Kyoya like he was a wad of hot wax or something. Kyoya got up, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Reika, please stop starting nonsense." He said coolly, but looking at me with the eyes of an angered wolf. I grinned, taking up the challenge. I was very fully enjoying myself.

"But honestly-it's obvi-

"Rei-Rei, I think it'd be better if you be nice to everyone. K?" Honey-Sempai appeared at my side, tugging at my hand. I faltered. "Umm...alright.."

Honey-Sempai grinned, and procured a piece of carrot cake out of nowhere.

"Here's your reward, k?" he said cutely. Being the glutton I am, I grabbed it and went to sit on a bean bag chair in the corner of Haruhi's room, surveying the group.

The twins sat on the other side of the bed, while Tamaki wailed as if his 'daughter' was deathly ill.

"So you're really sick, aren't you?" Kaoru asked, worry obvious in his voice.

"Yes, I am." Haruhi said plainly, coughing after-wards. I stiffened, but the tone of the coughs told that it wasn't serious.

"We thought you had just skipped or something." the twins said together, mournfulness mirroring their voices.

"I can't afford to skip class-I have to keep my grades up." Haruhi said plainly. I took a closer look. Haruhi did indeed look more pale than when I last saw her. Not as pale as Saya, of course-but pale enough to have a cold or something. Suddenly, Haruhi let out a sneeze.

"Ew." The twins said together, while Tamaki retracted. Haruhi grabbed a tissue and blew into it.

"How did you guys get in, anyways?" Haruhi asked as she tossed her tissue, suspicion creeping into her tone.

"Kyoya had a key," I answered, surprisingly myself with my participation in the conversation. Haruhi sighed, while Kyoya did his best to make himself look superior. I thought of 'accidentally' cutting his belt loose-I had a pocketknife in my jacket-but then I remembered the promise I had made to Honey. _Great. _I though miserably, stuffing another piece of carrot cake in my mouth.

"Go figure," Haruhi replied. Kyoya grabbed both of the twins and Tamaki, dragging them from her bedside (all three of them loudly protesting, might I add).

"Come on, boys. It's clear that Haruhi needs her sleep, and Reika needs to get to her job."

"Oh yea. We forgot about that." The red heads said, turning to me, a smirk crawling up their faces.

I groaned. _Ahh...shit..._

_**-X-**_

"Reika! You didn't tell me you had struck gold in the guy department lately!" My manager squealed, peering out the kitchen door.

"Hardly," I replied, putting on my apron. "They're all idiots and jackasses."

"But they're good looking idiots and jackasses," Misa-another waitress-said as she passed by to greet the group at the door.

"My little Rei-Chan's growing up!" Riku (the manager) squealed, hugging me so tightly my ribs cracked. She ushered me out the door.

"Do your best, deary! I'll look the other way if you want to flirt!"

I rolled my eyes, huffing as I stalked to their table.

"Is this what commoners eat all the time? I've never had any of this stuff!" Tamaki sounded absolutely overjoyed, looking at the menu.

"No, Tamaki, this is what commoners eat when they go out." Kyoya corrected. Honey-Sempai bounced in the booth next to Takashi. "Commoner food! Commoner food!" He chanted. I twitched, and then forced a smile onto my face.

"What would you like to drink today?" I asked sweetly, doing my best to take all the sarcasm I could out of it. The twins peered over from their menu at me and burst out laughing.

"Didja see, Kaoru?"

"She looks like a servant!" Kaoru said between breaths. I tried my best not to glare-there was nothing wrong with the uniform-it was black pants with a black shirt with the 'Shiro's Grill and Bar' logo on it.

"Boys, that's enough! We will not make fun of how our newest club's commoner works, no matter how low class this job is." Tamaki stated with authority. I bit on the inside of my lip, trying my best to hold my tongue.

"Rei-Chan-can I have a chocolate shake?" Honey asked cutely. I gave him a genuine smile.

"Sure!"

"I'll have a coke." Said Takashi.

"Hmm...Seems there's not much here to choose from. I'll have a cherry coke," ordered Kyoya, pushing his glasses up on his nose. I felt the corners of my eyes tighten, and I forced them to relax.

"Of course, sir."

The Jackass smiled. The twins had just been demoted to Jackasses #2 and #3.

"Don't you have anything good on the menu?" Hikaru yawned.

"Like pure pineapple juice, freshly squeezed?" Kaoru asked. I smiled as sweetly as I could.

"I'm sorry, we don't have that. However, we do have apple juice, orange juice, fruit smoothies, and tropical punch if you'd like."

The twins covered up each other's mouths, chuckling. Kyoya smiled as well-they were ALL enjoying this far too much. Done laughing, the twins sighed.

"Fine, we guess we'll go with the tropical punch. And make sure our drinks are made from freshly squeezed fruit." they said arrogantly, going with the clone routine. I had to check how hard my hand was holding the pen-it was starting to bend and splinter.

"Well, I will have commoner's instant coffee!" Tamaki proclaimed. Relieved, I excused myself, taking my sweet time when making their drinks. It was a shame I was at work-otherwise I could have slipped a nasty surprise in Kaoru and Hikaru's drinks. As it was...I grinned as I put extra whipped cream on Honey's shake, topping it with strawberries instead of cherries. He was the only one of the group I liked, anyways.

Finishing up, I brought the tray of drinks for them. Immediately, the twins 'dropped' their drinks all over the floor.

"Oh! Sorry!" they said in unison, sarcasm dripping from their tone. Honey's eyes widened in happiness as he grabbed his shake and started chugging it.

"It's no problem," I said through gritted teeth. "It'll be just one second and I'll go grab a mop."

"But we want to order now." Whined the twins. "It's bad service if you don't take care of the customer first."

"Boys, quit picking on my new daughter! She may be going through a rebellious phase, but she still deserves respect!" Tamaki stated loudly, glaring at the Hitachiins. They both burst out laughing. When the hell had I become his 'daughter'?

"Yea, right." they said once again in unison, to my irritation.

"As it is, Reika, I will have a dretinni pasta salad," Kyoya spoke, sounding annoyingly like a high class snob. Which he was. I nodded and wrote it down, soothing myself with the mental image of Kyoya getting his face bashed in.

"Reika-what's this?" Tamaki piped up-pointing to a picture. It stopped my anger, that was for sure.

"It's a burger. A cheeseburger."

"A cheeseburger? Well, I'll have one of those, then."

"With fries?" I asked, a small humored smile creeping up on my face.

"Yes! I shall have fries with it!"

I must not laugh at the customer. I must not laugh at the customer.

"Rei-Rei-I want fried salmon. With chips!" Honey called.

"Oh! And Takashi wants the chipotle chicken salad!" he added. Really? Never thought of Takashi as a salad person. I turned to Hikaru and Kaoru, an eyebrow raised. Hikaru would be the one to start something, I was sure.

"We want the steak, with a side of lobster legs. Lobster buttered, steak medium rare." they said in unison, somehow managing to sound like demanding little children with their bored tone. I don't know. It pissed me off. "With a salad. Ceasar."

Damn rich people. I smiled. More like bared my teeth, actually. Whoops. "Of course, sirs. Will that be two of each?"

"Of course." they replied smugly.

Thankfully, their food took a while to cook. I seated other customers and took their orders after cleaning up the spills the twins had made and replacing their drinks. It was a half hour before I took the large, precariously balanced platter to the table where the host club was. As I set their plates in front of them, the twins sniffed at their salads.

"Thanks, Rei-Chan! It's really good!" Honey-Sempai said cutely.

"It's surprising...I always thought commoner food would taste like dirt...but this is actually tasty! IT IS VERY TASTY!" Tamaki shouted, holding up his burger like some sort of trophy-and causing everyone in the restaurant to look at him.

"We don't like it."

I turned to the twins. "Sirs, what's wrong?" I asked, being perfectly polite. They scoffed and pushed their salads at me.

"Fix it. There's too much dressing."

I twitched. "Yes, of course." I smiled and grabbed their untouched salads, stalking off to the kitchen. In a few minutes, I brought them back the replacement salads.

"We still don't like it. Now there's too many croutons." Hikaru stated, talking for the both of them.

"Hikaru! I hate croutons!" Kaoru whined. Wordlessly, I took the salads away again.

Six salads later, we apparently had _still not _gotten it right for the Hitachiin brothers. Even putting the salad dressing on the side was disregarded. "We want the dressing _on _the salad," they had said promptly. Frustrated and cursing them in my head, I brought forth the final products. Everyone else had finished eating by now-and had ordered dessert. Honey-Sempai, of course, ordered a huge chocolate cake.

"Hmm..this will do." they said, under Tamaki's death-glare.

"But our steaks are cold now. Make us different ones."

Seething, I grabbed their steaks and walked off, trying to keep my composure.

"They want new steaks." I called to the cooks. The head cook shook his head.

"Tell them after this if they want us to keep replacing food, they'll have to pay for all of it." he said, throwing fresh meat on the stove. Smugly, I set out to do exactly that.

"We don't care. We're rich, so it's not like we don't have the money."

"By the way-" Hikaru started. I glared through my plastered smile.

"Our lobster legs were too buttery. Less butter, please."

My hands twitched, each itching to wrap around a twin neck and squeeze. At this point, the twins were the only ones there-the rest of the club had packed up and gone home. Obviously, they were enjoying this.

An hour later, they finally asked for the check. My eyes widened at it-2,400 yen. On a restaurant. But of course, they took it without even batting an eye, paying for it in cash.

"Hey, Reika-when do you get off work? It's been three hours-surely you're done with your shift by now." Hikaru asked suddenly. I huffed, still seething from their attitudes.

"I work seven hours tonight."

"But you won't be off until eleven, then." Kaoru said, stating the obvious.

"Welcome to the real world, boys," I said, dropping the act.

"How are you going to get home?" Hikaru asked.

"It's not like you have a car or something," Kaoru added.

"Why do you care?"

"We don't!" they snapped. I paused before replying.

"For future reference, I walk home."

They were silent as they dropped me a tip. I was no longer surprised at how large it was-the others had waved around insane amounts of money to me as well.

_**-X-**_

"Kaoru-I can't sleep." Hikaru woke his twin brother. Kaoru rolled over, meeting his twin's eyes. A mutual understanding swept through both of them before they shot up out of bed.

"Aizen! Start the limo!"

_**-X-**_

"See you later, Rei-Chan!" sang my manager. I smiled, waving goodbye before heading out, my tips in my pocket. I wondered how Saya was doing. I blinked, realizing the date. The fact hit me unexpectedly-Saya and mine's birthday was less than a week away.

Headlights blinded me as a car slid to the side of the curb near where I was.

"The hell?" I grumbled, tired.

"You know, it's rather stupid for a girl to be walking around by herself at night." Hikaru's voice called. Oh, great. I started walking.

"You might get kidnapped by a stalker or something." Kaoru added. I was very aware of the limousine slowly following me, the twins peering through a rolled down window.

"The only stalkers I see are you two. Seriously, what the hell are you guys doing?" I called. Silence answered me. Then-

"Offering to give a frail damsel in distress a lift." Hikaru said smugly.

I chucked a rock at Hikaru's head.

"Hey! That's dangerous!" Kaoru snapped, his voice emitting the ever present whine.

"You could have seriously hurt us!" Hikaru snapped.

"Oh, you poor babies." I replied sarcastically.

"Shut up!" they snapped together.

Doors opened behind me. What the-

"Put me down!" I yelled, bringing a fist down into each of their faces instinctively as they grabbed me around the middle, lifting me irritatingly easily.

"...Deal with it." Kaoru growled through a (hopefully) bloodied nose.

"This is kidnapping! I'll kick _both _your asses!" I warned as they threw me in the backseat. And I would have, too...if the lights hadn't shown their profusely bleeding noses. Unexpected guilt swept through me...I tried to shake it off, but it kept nagging at me. I huffed and turned away as the doors shut and the engine remmed.

A/N: Ack...I'm done. Can't write anymore tonight, but wanted to put up a chapter. Eck. Anyways, I have to thank you guys for your reviews. It really means a lot to me to know you guys like this story.


	8. Author's NoteREAD  Seriously

Hey Guys! I have a couple of things to tell everyone-one, the question came of where in the series this story is set. To that, I am pulling a FMA brotherhood on everyone-Reika arrives just as Hikaru and Kaoru have started to realize their feelings for Haruhi-just started. However, in the name of creativity, I am adding my own twist to the series-so HAHAHA you can't predict what shall happen next! (I'm desperately low on sleep, can you tell?) Also, because I've realized the quality of the chapters has started to fade-I'm going to take a small break from writing this story. Just a small one-two, three days before next update, and then I'll go back to normal-updating every night between 10 and 11:30. My brain is just fizzing out from writing so much so often, and I'm really excited about my overall plans for how this story will turn out-so quality shall NOT be overlooked, I say! If any of you have any questions or want to point out any oopsies on the series, let me know-I'm all ears. :) Again, thanks for all the attention and all the reviews-it definitely means a lot to me. Caoi! **falls asleep on keyboard**


	9. An Interesting Turn Of Events

A/N: Thanks for all your patience-I'm back and fully charged to continue my daily updates! Elayna19, thanks for pointing out the problem in the previous chapters-I read that and did a facepalm. Silly, silly me. Anyways-I can't thank you guys enough for all your support. This story has a total of 2,462 hits, 30 favs, 40 alerts (wow!) and 41 reviews! Holy snarkies! Thanks a bunch! Hope you like this chapter!

**_-X-_**

I glared firmly at the both of them from the back-seat.

"This isn't the way to my house." I stated. They hadn't even asked me where it was yet-and we had been driving for a good fifteen minutes. In response, they both leaned over the seat, staring at me.

"We're bored." They said together, once again looking like a pair of clones.

"It's friday night-

"And it's not like we can ask Haruhi to come with. She's sick," reasoned Kaoru, with an arrogant flip of his bangs.

"And we don't want the entire host club coming too." Hikaru said, slight irritation covering his voice. I twitched at the 'we'.

"We would have invited at least one other person-but you were the best candidate." Kaoru said. Then they both leaned in.

"We both knew you were already awake since you were working."

"Alright, that's it. Hikaru-" I snapped, grabbing his ear.

"And Kaoru," I grabbed his ear.

"QUIT WITH THE DAMN CLONE ACT. It's pissing me off."

They looked at each other, before letting out a 'hmph' and using their hands to free their ears from my hands.

"But it's fun," they said together.

"And besides, we don't take orders from a commoner like you." They said, very much spoiled-brat like. My eyes narrowed, before glancing at the clock.

"It's 11:30 at night. Where the hell are you idiots taking me?"

They annoyingly pointed their fingers at me and winked simultaneously.

"It's a secret."

I glared, and using both of my hands, I bashed their heads together.

"Ow! What the hell did you do that for?" Hikaru snapped.

"Don't be so violent!" Kaoru whined. I sat back, letting a small smile cross my face.

"See? You two are completely different people-you should start letting it show more often."

They blinked, looking as though I had hit them with a baseball bat instead of just bashing their heads together.

"Did you two lose more brain cells? I should be more careful-you two need all you can get." I remarked, smirking. Hikaru's face was the first to drop in a scowl, followed closely by Kaoru's.

_**-X-**_

_I held Saya's hand tightly, staring at the hug store in front of us. _

_ "Why are we here?" I asked her. She turned to me, a smile dancing across her face._

_ "Remember when I said we needed to make more of an effort to look different from one another? This is the first step."_

_ My grip tightened._

_ "But this won't...it won't change anything between us, right? We'll still be close, right?" I said, uncertain. Saya laughed._

_ "Of course it won't change anything, silly. We're still twins. But we're two different people-__two wonderfully different people. It's time people saw that."_

_ I nodded, stomach twisting in uncertainty. Somehow, it felt like there was a wall going up between us. Saya frowned, putting both hands on my shoulders and forcing me to look her in the eyes. The eyes that so comfortingly mirrored mine._

_ "Rei-Chan, __**nothing **__is going to change between us. We'll still be best friends-forever."_

_ I nodded again, taking comfort in her words. Saya slipped her hand in mine again._

_ "Ready?" She asked. I took a deep breath._

_ "Okay. Let's do it," I replied. She smiled, leading me in. The strength in Saya's hand and stride comforted me greatly as we walked in._

_ We were only ten years old back then._

_**-X-**_

"We're here!" The twins said. I blinked blearily. The clock read 12:15am. Seriously? The huge building in front of us defied the night's darkness with neon lights-blue, yellow, green, red. The sign flashing over the double doors read, "Kyo's Extreme Laser Tag Emporium'. Slowly, a grin crept up my face.

"You're on." I said, confidence streaming through me. No one, and I mean _no one_, had **ever **beat me at laser tag.

_**-X-**_

Now, I was expecting it to be crowded-like a laser tag place should be on a friday night. But no-no other customers came forth when we walked up to the front desk. I scanned the ticket prices behind the cashier and paled.

It was four-thousand yen _just _to get in.

The cashier looked up.

"Ahh! The Hitachiin brothers-welcome back!" He said, walking out from behind the counter. Neither of them replied to the warm welcome, instead looking away with little interest. I gave them both a dirty look, and then turned to the cashier myself.

"Hi-I'm Reika. Who-

"We'll take the usual, Dai. Add her onto our list," Hikaru interrupted, jabbing a finger at me.

"Right away sir," the cashier smiled, beckoning us down a hallway to the right. i glared at the clones vehemently-but was ignored.

We were led into a room with the electronic vests and weapons.

"Your room is on the right," Dai said, befor bowing out. The twins turned to me after he left.

"So, which of us do you want on your team? Do you want Kaoru, or me?" Kaoru asked, as if it was expected.

"Neither, Kaoru." I replied, pointedly calling him by name-catching him in the act. They blinked. Slowly, grins crept across their faces.

"So what you're saying is-" Hikaru began, creeping around on one side with a cocky grin.

"It's us against you?" Kaoru finished, creeping on the other side. I pushed both of them away pointed, before replying.

"Being partnered with one of you idiots would only slow me down."

The grins never left their faces.

"Alright, then-" Hikaru started.

"Let's make it interesting." They said together, switching up the usual pattern of Hikaru-Kaoru-together. They waited for my response.

"I'm listening."

Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged a glance.

"If we win, you'll have to be our servant for a week." They said together. I grinned, unfazed.

"And if I win...you two have to spend three days at school dressed like babies." I threw in. Both their faces scrunched up.

"You've got to be kidding," Hikaru and Koaru said, disbelief covering their voices.

"Nope." I said, grabbing a vest with neon blue lights. I looked over my shoulder at them as I slid it on and put the matching ray gun in place.

"Prepare yourselves, boys," I said with a smirk. They both scowled, hollering, "As if we'd lose to **you**!" as they each grabbed a green vest.


	10. Laser Tag Begins!

Unexpected loud, blaring music began throbbing through the dark room as I charged my two laser guns. I had swiped another when the twins weren't looking-it would give me an unexpected edge if they cornered me. Which, being two against one-would probably be their first strategy. Come in from different directions-distract the opponent with shots from one direction, and while they're scrambling to dodge, the other comes in on the other side. Simple, but usually effective in this game.

However, they had never played the game with _me. _A small smile crept over my face as I looked around-weighing my options. Knowing the Hitachiins-they'd probably try to go on the offensive immediately-which meant they were probably crawling around the moment the game started. Which meant I had to get out of the rest area as soon as possible-before I was trapped.

Luckily for me, the 'room' was absolutely huge. More like a gymnasium with two open castle-like structures opposing each other-completely pitch black except for the neon lights. I smiled confidently, knowing I had another edge. Obviously the Hitachiins had been here before-but even as we came in I had surveyed the area descreetly, memorizing the landlines. And while my laser guns were charging, I had done a complete survey of my territory-picking out the good spots to hide, the good spots to go on the offensive, good, unexpected ways to creep into should I need to go defensive.

So what I did next made absolutely no sense, whatsoever. I took my guns and bolted up the stairs to the top level of my 'castle'-making sure I stayed outside the barriers meant to hide players. I bent over the railing, testing. Immediately my vest blared with points lost from being shot-and a laser beam shone in the dark. Gotcha.

I ducked behind a barrier and booked it-using the barrier running alone the top floor as a shield. As the side rail came into vision, I launched over it, breaking my fall once by landing on a barrier, and then landing on the floor level, catching myself partially with my hand, and partly with my legs. My back twinged uncomfortably, but I ignored it.

I wasted no time, setting off at a bolting pace away from the spot I had been before-the name of the game was to do the unexpected, and to do that, I would have to be blindingly fast.

I slid with my back against a barrier in the Hitachiins' territory. Koaru was a little ways away from where I had seen him last-he was moving in on where he _thought _I was. I smirked-just as I had thought. Securely from my position I fired a round of shots, watching as the lights on Kaoru's jacket dimmed and went out in the time it took for him to figure out where I was. His eyes widened in surprise.

"Hikaru!" he called as I gave him a two finger salute and a smile before running off obviously in one direction, then hiding behind a barrier and switching directions-going straight back to my castle.

On my way over, I noticed Hikaru running straight for where Kaoru was. With a grin and a few shots, the lights on his vest too dimmed and went out.

"Shit!" he swore, looking around frantically before his eyes settled on me. His expression turned to a glare.

"Fun game, huh?" I irked, grinned smugly. He opened his mouth to respond.

"Hikaru! Regroup!" Kaoru called. I gave him a mocking salute like I had his brother, and then we both headed off in opposite directions. And so ended round one of three.

This was far too easy, I thought, jogging the rest of the way back to my castle to recharge my ammo.

_**-X-**_

Where were they? I leaned out of my hiding spot, arms at the ready. I had given them the next move-but it had been nearly twenty minutes, and nothing. I crept out of the crevice. Immediately, my vest vibrated, and the lights dimmed. I cursed and lept to the nearest blockade, craning my neck around once I thought I was safe. Evil laughter rang to my left. I rose my eyes-and saw that they were both crouched on the overhang that I had been hiding under. When had they-

Both Hitachiins started towards me, the neon green on their vests glowing in the dark. I backed around the corner, choosing instead to let loose fire from around the corner. But no hits.

I turned realizing I had to find somewhere to regroup and rethink out my strategy-and ran straight into them. They bent over to my level, smirking.

"You had us that one time-" Hikaru started.

"But we won't be fooled again," Kaoru continued, They both pointed their ray guns at me confidently. After a quick decision, I knocked both of their guns outta their hands and opened fire on them with both of mine.

"Hey! That's cheating!" they protested, each jumping behind the nearest blockade, their vests reasonably dimmed. I grinned.

"Whining about it isn't going to help you win against me," I replied. A gleam appeared in their eyes. I readied myself-checking my ammo. Half full.

"If that's how you want to play-" they both started ominously. Not bothering to finish their sentence, Hikaru and Kaoru bolted from their spots. I snapped up in response, firing away quickly-Hikaru shot around me. With a final shot Kaoru's vest went dark. I wheeled, shooting at Hikaru just as he started shooting at me with the laser gun he had just reclaimed.

Both of our vests went dark at the same time. Hikaru scowled. Kaoru, behind me, started chuckling. He clapped me on the shoulder, laughing.

"You know-you're not too bad." he said.

"You two aren't horrible either," I reluctantly admitted.

"All the same-we're not going to lose to you," Hikaru said,confidence irritatingly lacing his tone.

"Hey-let's take a break before the final round-I'm hungry," Kaoru said, surprisingly not joining in on his brothers' challenge. Instead, he was looking at me in interest. He exchanged a confirmed glance with Hikaru.

"Game pause!" Hikaru shouted. At once, the lights went on, blinding me, and the music stopped. I blinked as everything came into focus.

"Well that's...fancy.."

I turned to Kaoru. "You're hungry at...1:30 in the morning?"

"That's when we normally had our late night snack," Hikaru explained, beckoning to me as he and Kaoru started to head for the exit. Resigned, I followed them.

_**-X-**_

A/N: Yes, I'm aware-another shortie. It's 11...and I'm pretty brain-dead. Put an exercise goal for myself-five mile walk a day-that has me dead tired the rest of the day. Good news-tomorrows chapter will be much, much longer-I actually started working on that one before this one. And I'll be releasing it earlier in the day too-look for it between 3 and 6 pm. This chapter was two pages long-the next one will be between 6 and 8 pages long. Also, the next chapter will be the grand finale of the laser tag...and clues about Saya shall make themselves known to the twins. Thank you guys so much for your support-I really do appreciate it, and your patience!


	11. The Rose Has Thorns!

_**-X-**_

"You're kidding me. When the hell did this place pop up?" I said, staring at the overly fancy restaurant...in the middle of the damn laser tag emporium.

"You have to be VIP to get in," Hikaru boasted.

"_This _is what you call a late night snack? ...so that's why you two are so out of shape."

Both twins glared at me. "Just who are you calling out of shape?" Hikaru snapped.

"Obviously, you."

"Why you!" They both replied intelligently. I snorted.

"You're the ones who were still looking for me in the place I had been while I was running circles around you. And winning-easily, might I add."

"There's still another round," pointed out Kaoru.

"Yea, and I'll beat your asses all the same."

Both of them smirked those annoying smirks.

"We'll see."

So I smacked them. A perfectly logical thing to do when you're annoyed, but it set them off again.

"What did you do that for?" they yelled-in unison.

"You were being idiots." I explained. They 'hmphed' and, at the same time, turned and walked into the restaurant.

"You better hurry up, or we won't pay for your food," Kaoru called. My eyes narrowed, as I jogged to catch up with them.

"Who the hell said I needed you to pay for my food?"

"Shut up and accept it. It isn't often we're nice to someone," Hikaru snapped.

"I don't need you two to be nice to me!" I retorted.

"Guys-our table is over here," called Kaoru. I let out a 'hmph!', irritatingly, Hikaru did the same...at the same time. I glared, and then turned away-taking my seat across Kaoru while Hikaru sat next to his brother.

A girl amazingly popped up dressed like a waitress, setting two pops in front of Hikaru and Kaoru, and turned to me. My eyes widened at her awesomely highlighted hair-red, black, and blonde.

"Now, you're a new face. What can I get for you?" she asked.

"Do you have root beer?"

The tightness in her face relaxed, and she gave a relieved smile.

"Yes."

"Hey-we'll have the Braised Beef and Tortilini tonight." the twins said together. They couldn't even eat different things?

"Yes sirs-and you?" a look dawned on her face.

"Are you...Reika Fumiko?" she asked, a tone of excitement in her voice.

"Umm...yea?"

"I'm a huge fan!" she squealed. I smiled uncertainly, not knowing what else to do.

"Thank you?" wasn't aware I had fans.

"Can I get your autograph?" She asked, excitement just wracking her frame.

"Who would want _her _autograph?"

"Shut up Hikaru," I said through my smile, taking the pen the waitress procured, and after being prodded by said waitress, made it out to Sakura-on a napkin. Didn't seem to matter to the waitress though-she was ecstatic about it all the same.

"Oh-I'm so sorry-I totally forgot to take your order."

Oh, right. I looked at the menu-and realized I had no idea what any of the dishes were. Sure, they looked like pasta, or steak, ect-but I couldn't figure out how to pronounce their names. I closed the menu.

"Surprise me," I said finally. Sakura grinned, taking the menus politely and practically skipping away.

"That was weird," Hikaru and Koaru noted. Yea, tell me about it.

I ended up with a pasta of sorts, by the way.

_**-X-**_

"Get ready to have your butts kicked," I warned as we got back to the room.

"Yea, right," they both smirked annoying clone smirks. We each took up our positions in our own castles. I rubbed my hands together. Time to put my plan into action.

The music started, the lights went off. I smirked, heading off, a few tools in hand.

_**-X-**_

"Should we split up?" Kaoru asked. Hikaru rubbed his head.

"No, it's better if we stick together-we won't get caught again like the first round."

Kaoru nodded, as they looked up to the opposing castle.

"You know, this is-

"Kinda fun," Hikaru finished. They looked at each other, wide eyed.

"Not that we like her as a person or anything." Kaoru assured.

"We just haven't had a semi-worthy opponent in a while." Hikaru continued.

They started forward, and Hikaru tripped over-something. His vest's lights started to dim.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru cried, yanking him out of the line of fire. Both of them looked over, expecting Reika to pop up at the worst of times-but instead, a blue-lit laser gun was resting on a barrier on its own. Kaoru knelt down, inspecting-and found a piece of string right where Hikaru had tripped. Both of them looked at each other, a grin spreading across their faces.

"Devious, devious," they mirrored.

"Guess we won't hold back."

_**-X-**_

I walked along the side of the Hitachiin's side, waiting for any sign of movement. I'd have to retrieve my second ray gun at some point. A flash outta the corner of my eye-I pressed myself up against a barrier and pointed my laser gun out-ready. Nothing. Everything was still-eerily so. I moved-and immediately my vest vibrated and dimmed. I jumped, moving, but I kept being shot. Looking around, I jumped on a ledge, and then climbed over a barrier holding myself up with my arms when the shooting stopped. In the pitch black darkness-the oddly pitch black darkness of that barrier-I could make out the forms of several laser guns all along the corridor. My eyes narrowed.

"But there weren't any strings...

My eyes widened in realization. Motion activated?

"How the HELL did they rig that up?"

_**-X-**_

From that point onward, I avoided pitch black corridors on the Hitachiin's side of the equation. But unfortunately, no sign of the twins. Frowning- I grabbed a ledge and used it as a step up to stand on the top rim of a barrier. I surveyed the area-and finally, caught sight of two neon lit vests-behind where I was standing. They had been following me-but for what reason wouldn't they shoot? I scrutinized the possibilities while pretending I hadn't seen them. If they hadn't shot at me already, they weren't going to shoot. An idea popped into my head as I analyzed the maze of barriers.

Taking a gamble, I leaped for the rim of the barrier next to the one I was on. I landed-but didn't hold my balance well enough to stay on it. That was fine-I dropped to the ground and headed off.

_**-X-**_

"What is she doing?" Hikaru asked, watching as Reika climbed up onto one of the barriers.

"Probably looking for us," Kaoru replied, grabbing his twins hand and pulling him out of view. A moment later, Reika unexpected jumped to another barrier's rim.

"Pffft...what is she, a monkey?" Kaoru chuckled.

"We better not let her out of our sight," Hikaru said, a small smirk covering his face as she dropped to the ground. Kaoru nodded in agreement, and started to lead his brother off.

"Too late for that."

The twins turned to find a very smug Reika behind them, pointing both of her laser guns at them.

_**-X-**_

I fired fast and strong, aware that I only had half my life left. Hikaru's vest was the first to go out before I was forced to duck behind a barrier to avoid being hit again.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru called dramatically, as if his brother was mortally wounded. I took a step back as the aura around Kaoru changed-to a much darker one as he turned towards me. My vest vibrated unexpectedly-and I ducked, only to have it dim further.

"Shit!" I cursed, realizing it was another one of their rigs. I bolted out into the open for another barrier-shooting at Kaoru as I went. I reached the barrier and slumped in relief-before realizing something was wrong.

My vest was completely off. The music stopped, and a overhead speaker blared 'GAME OVER. GREEN TEAM WINS!'

I frowned, disappointed. I hadn't even been able to put the majority of my master plan into effect.

"Looks like we win," said a couple of very, very smug voices.

For some reason, a smile crept up onto my face. Before I knew it, I was laughing. I looked up to see Kaoru and Hikaru giving me odd looks.

"That was one hell of a game, huh? I haven't had that much fun in ages," I found myself admitting.

"Don't forget about the bet," they chorused, wiping the grin off of my face. Oh, yea. Shit.

_**-X-**_

"Doesn't look like anyone's home," Kaoru remarked, staring at the rather secluded two story house. The driveway was empty as their driver pulled into it.

"My mom's probably spending the night with Saya again." I replied, getting out of the limo. I paused, staring off into space for a moment, my eyes drifting shut of their own accord, before I caught myself. I waved to the twins.

"See ya," I said, heading to the barn to feed Takuto and Toby. But when I came out of the barn, the limo was still parked in the driveway. I twitched.

"Oi! Get off my property!" I called, but I was unable to put the sharpness in my tone that I had intended-I was far too tired.

"You know the pin to get inside, don't you?" Hikaru called. I stared blankly at them both for a few seconds before it registered what they meant.

"Idiot-I have a key, not a security pin." I replied.

"That's so commoner-like." They both commented. I ignored them as I walked up to the door. Car doors opened, and as I turned the key, the twins appeared on either side of me.

"What?" I snapped, grouchy.

"We're curious to see what the inside of your house looks like." They said together. I sighed.

"Fuck off, guys. I'm going to bed." I growled.

"Aww, come on, just a peek?" Hikaru whined-but he still didn't have the tone of voice Kaoru did, I noted tiredly.

"No. Go home." I could almost feel them look at each other as they chorused "Hmmm."

The moment I turned the knob to go in, they blasted past me, disappearing into the dark depths of the house.

"Hikaru, Kaoru!" I called, very very irritated. Seriously, they were definitely a pair of spoiled brats. I flicked on the lights, blinking in the living room as my eyes adjusted.

"Don't break anything, and STAY OUT OF MY ROOM!" I roared. Mutual chuckles came from the staircase's balcony.

"Like we'd be that stupid to break anything!" they called. Bastards. I went to the dining room, my eyes catching a piece of paper resting on it.

_Reika-_

_ I went on a weekend business trip. Be back Monday._

_ -Mom_

"So, where's your room?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin, my hands flying up as fists and conking each of the Hitachiins' chins.

"Ow!"

I raised my eyebrow, somewhat amused/irritated at the fact that they were _still _talking in unison, even when in pain. They rubbed their chins and glared at me.

"I hope you get bruises." I said in response blandly.

"What's this?" Hikaru asked, swiping the note off the table to stare at it with Kaoru. I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it. I really didn't have the energy at this point. Instead, I grabbed each by an ear, and pulled-_hard. _I dragged them to the door.

"But we just-

"got here," Kaoru finished-oddly their tones weren't the normal jackass-like tones. I yanked their ears harder, causing them both to yelp. I mustered up the most fierce some death glare I could at this hour.

"It is 3:30 in the morning. I am tired, and I do not have any patience. Leave now, or be buried in the backyard."

Growling, I opened the door with my foot and shoved them both out, locking it firmly behind them.

"Hey-your end of the deal starts tomorrow. Be at our mansion at 2pm tomorrow," Hikaru's voice called. I glared at the closed door until the sound of the limo engine remming and driving away sang to my ears.

I relaxed, and then I went straight to mine and Saya's room and went on the laptop, shooting Saya a text from the internet saying that my phone had been destroyed by certain means. Finished, I let out a sigh, and inertia caught up to me. Resigned, I went to bed.

_**-X-**_

"Young masters, we were unable to repair your friend's phone. However, we were able to save the phone's memory card." The Hitachiins' main butler said, holding it out.

"Just put it in a new phone," Koaru said, waving him off.

"Yea, that phone she had before sucked anyways." Hikaru remarked. The butler bowed and left the room-almost as quickly as he left, he returned, a black flip-phone in his hand. He put it in Kaoru's outstretched hand, and then quietly left.

"What do you think she has on there, anyways?" Hikaru asked. Kaoru flipped open the phone.

"Probably some weird gothic stuff." Kaoru replied, pressing the on button anyways.

Both stared as the sheek new phone started up and went to the homepage with Saya and Reika as the background. The Hitachiin brothers' eyes widened, and they stared for a few moments. Then they turned to each other.

"Photo-shopped," was their affirmation to each other.

"But why would she have a photo-shopped picture of herself as the background?" Kaoru asked curiously. Hikaru waved him off, heading towards the elevator that would take them to their room.

"Who knows? We'll find out tomorrow," Hikaru said. Kaoru paused, and then followed his brother.

_**-X-**_

I woke up feeling odd. I blinked, trying to comprehend through my exhaustion what exactly it was that was odd. I tried to sit up-and nearly screamed. I clamped my hands over my mouth and fell back onto the bed, the jarring sending icy hot pain all throughout my back. After it subsided to a mere pulsating ache, I slowly, carefully reached back under my shirt. A large, swollen lump along my spine, hot to the touch sent my hand jerking back in disgust-at the cost of another round of pain. I lay in bed for a few more minutes, too uncomfortable to drift back to sleep.

The pain receded to something tolerable, and I carefully crept into a sitting position on my bed.

"The hell?" I found myself groaning as the room spun. I waited for the spinning to stop-it slowed, but did not stop. I shook my head-that cleared it a bit, though my back twinged fiercely from the movement. I slowly stood up, using the wall to lean against as the room spun more, unnatural icy heat flooding through me. Gritting my teeth, I walked out of our room to the basement's bathroom.

I blinked as the black dots in my vision cleared, almost mistaking the face in the mirror to be Saya's-if not for the haircut. My eyes were bloodshot, my face sickly pale, cheeks rosy red-coupled with my bed hair, I looked like someone from a horror film. Realizing I would have to take a look at my back, I reached for the hand-held mirror on the sink's counter. Once again, my back snapped into life. I gritted my teeth, waiting for it to subside. When it did, I hobbled around, carefully lifting my shirt-which was strangely stuck to my back- until I could feel the sensitive skin of my back hit the air. I positioned the mirror in my hand with the larger mirror on the wall behind me-and nearly dropped it.

The entire middle of my back was a swollen blackish reddish greenish lump-and it was oozing puss. Ew. I put the mirror down, and reached up to the cabinet on the wall to the left-medicine cabinet. I swallowed two Tylenol dry, and grabbed a cold compress. I fished around further-and to be expected, there was a roll of equine vet wrap in the middle of the family medicine cabinet. Ridiculous, but wonderfully convenient at the moment. I grabbed the bottle of hydrogen peroxide as well, and some paper towels.

After much careful twisting and more use of the hand-held mirror,I had the disgusting swollen limb on my back cleaned. I activated the cold compress, and pressed it firmly against the worst of the bump on top of a paper towel-then managed to use the vet wrap to hold it all in place. Unconventional and awkward looking-but it'd have to do. I had to try something to bring the swelling down and get rid of my fever.

It was a little easier to think now, with the Tylenol kicking in. I tried to wrack my brain-it was too big to be a spider bite. The only possibility that came to me was when I had a portion of my spinal fluids taken-but that was a routine procedure, and had never given me a reaction like this. I sighed-whatever it was, I hoped it would fix itself soon.

Feeling better to a certain degree, I headed out of the bathroom to the stairs. Which looked a hell of a lot more intimidating to climb than they did yesterday. I stared, trying to figure out through a foggy mind the best way to climb the stairs and be careful of my back. Realizing there was no way around it, I bit my lip and lifted my leg, resting it on the first step. That in and of itself didn't hurt too badly. I lifted myself confidently, freezing as fire shot through me. A small 'ee' escaped me. When it faded, I used the rail to lift myself up-using my arms instead of my legs and back. It was with this method I was able to get upstairs with reasonable comfort. I headed out to the barn, reasoning to only feed the horses before going back inside and laying down for the remainder of my Saturday...watching horror flicks on Netflix.

Toby and Takuto were already waiting for me in the barn. Toby gave me a hearty welcome nicker, the soft look in his blue eyes making me smile. Takuto let out a 'give me food' nicker, almost causing me to laugh.

"Sorry I'm late, guys," I said, carefully bending down to get their scoops of grain out of the grain bin. Being forced to move slowly irritated me just a tad. I dumped their grain in their individual buckets, pushing each a flake of hay through the stall doors. I paused to give Toby a kiss on the nose, and then headed back towards the house.

**_-X-_**

I laid with reasonable comfort through the first couple of horror flicks. The cold compress on my back had long ago lost its relieving iciness, but I was too lazy to change it. I couldn't find the remote, so I had been using my laptop instead. The movies were pirated, but hey, wasn't my problem.

An IM from Saya popped up in the corner of the screen. I paused the movie and went to take a look at it.

_How did you destroy your phone?-Saya_

_ I dropped it. _I lied. It was pointless to tell her about the backpack being dropped-saying something like that would only be whining.

_Well-get a new one soon-it's boring not talking to you. By the way-are you coming to visit today? Normally I wouldn't even ask-but it's rather late. You're usually here by the time I wake up on the weekends.-Saya_

A knock at the door distracted me. I groaned at the thought of getting up, instead deciding to pretend I wasn't there.

_ "_Reika we know you're there. You were supposed to be at our mansion an hour ago."

Oh, great. I buried my feverish head in the pillow further, turning my horror flick back on.

_ "_Alright, that's it-we're coming in."

Yea, right. I had the door locked firmly. And it's not like two rich dweebs who had never used a key in their life would know how to pick a lock.

There was an unexpected clicking noise, and the twins got though the door. I groaned again, trying to block out the unwanted light from the open door.

"What's your problem?" they asked.

"Why are you still in your pj's?' Kaoru asked.

"It's three in the afternoon, you know," pointed out the ever-so brilliant Hikaru.

"Go away," I grumbled. They each exchanged a look. And not just any look-

"No-wait guys-I'm staying home-

My back exploded-I let out a shriek, causing the twins to let go of my legs rather hastily.

I bit my lip while it subsided-moving my legs back to their original least painful position-stretched out behind me on the couch.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Oh-you don't look so good. Are you sick?" Kaoru asked.

"Yes, genius. Now go away."

They both scowled.

"If you want to be a jerk today, fine-but you still lost the bet in laser tag." Hikaru said. I twitched, and the IM system let out a beep. A nanosecond later, an audio chat started.

"Rei-you there?" Saya's voice started.

"Who ya talkin to?" Hikaru asked, leaning in to look over my shoulder with his brother.

"My sister." I replied. Then a little louder, for Saya's sake, I said, "Yea, I'm here."

A pause. "Your voice is odd. Are you okay, Rei-Chan?"

"Yea, I'm fine."

"Liar, liar, pants on fire," the twins chided. I groaned. "Shut up."

"Who's with you? I wanna video chat!" Saya said.

"I don't have a web-cam, Sai. And it's the annoying-" I started. But each twin put a hand on my head, effectively cutting me off.

"We're Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. You're Reika's sister, right?"

Kaoru took his hand off my head.

"Yea!" Saya chirped happily.

"Whoa. You're burning up, Rei." he noted.

"Who gave you permission to call me Rei?" I snapped, with much less energy than was intended.

"Reika!" Saya snapped. I cringed.

"Now you've done it," I whined to the twins, who just shrugged.

"You're not allowed to be sick. I'm sick enough for the both of us. Are you going to go to the doctor willingly, or will I have to send a doctor over?"

"Shut up. I'm fine."

"What's this?" Hikaru asked, poking at the ice pack strapped to my back. I cringed as rolls of pain snapped through me.

"An ice pack. Quit. Poking. My. Back."

"It's your _back_?" Saya nearly growled.

"She has a fever too," Hikaru announced.

"She looks horrible, really," Kaoru added.

"Shut up you morons." I repeated.

"Reika-that could be serious. Your back was sore after you gave me spinal fluids too-and don't you _dare _tell me it wasn't." Saya only started sounding like me when she was a)worried or b) annoyed.

"It wasn't that bad."

"I'm sending over my doctor."

"What?" I yelped as my sudden, stupid movement jarred me.

"Hitachiins-hold her captive until he gets there."

I cringed. "Don't word it like that!"

They did a salute. "Ay-ay, Captain!"

I groaned, resigned. I shot said twins a death glare, and turned my movie back on.

A/N: I apologize for the hour delay-I had to go feed my own horse, and my little sister had to be dropped off for gymnastics. I hope you guys liked it-I know I'm much more satisfied with this chapter than the last one I wrote. By the way-I really have to thank you guys for your reviews, especially last chapter's reviews. They made me smile as I read them. Also, as a result, I've decided that some of the new chapters coming up will be reader's choice. :) Not the next chapter, but probably the ones after that where Reika is bonding with the club more. :) Feel free to throw some scenarios my way, along with what characters you'd like to see Reika interact with more. Or maybe you'd like to know more about her past-let me know, and I'll try to fit everything I can in. ;) Till next time-JkayChase


	12. Uhoh

A/N My deepest, deepest apologies for this late chapter. My keyboard broke, and I was unable to get another keyboard until now. Otherwise, I would have updated far, far sooner-back when I was supposed to. . Technical difficulties suck. Reika wasn't happy, that was for sure. XD

"What's that?" Asked Hikaru as he looked at the computer screen. A semi-creepy looking ghost had just crawled across the wall of the main character's bedroom.

"It's a horror flick. Helps me relax. Unlike you two."

"This kind of thing _relaxes _you?" Kaoru said in disbelief-completely ignoring the last part of my sentence.

"Kaoru, she's weird," Hikaru stated.

"Hikaru-I think something's not right with her head." Kaoru joined in, poking my head. I twitched.

"Please, leave. Now."

They both smirked deviously. "But we can't. We _promised-_

"Oh don't give me that shit. Neither of you are the type to care about the promises you make others-especially not one to look after me. You're only here to annoy me. Now leave."

The room spun, and I allowed myself another groan, burying my face in the pillow in front of the laptop. "Fuck. This sucks," I snarled quietly as my back pulsated steadily. I looked up after my nausea faded-the twins hadn't said a thing. I was a little nervous because of that fact-to be honest. Idle Hitachiins were not a good thing to behold. But they were no longer in my line of sight. _Maybe they did go home after all-_I hoped. Realizing I was very, very thirsty and should probably get some fluids in my system, I carefully propped myself up to a sitting position. I bit m lip as I rose, using the arm of the couch to avoid using my back at all to rise. There-that wasn't so hard.

I started off towards the kitchen.

"Where are _you _going?"

I tensed, not having the energy to jump in surprise as Hikaru and Kaoru asked the question from the dining room table. They were sitting in front of a laptop. When had they brought that in?

I shook my head.

"I'm making myself some iced tea. I'd offer you some, but I don't think you'd want any tea made by me at this point."

"Oh." they said in unison. I blinked-where was the snarky reply? Weird. All the same, I headed into the kitchen, rooting through the cabinets. After a little rummaging, I found the instant rasberry tea, and turned to go to the fridge for purified water.

And ran into a tall twin.

"Whoa!" I let out, jerking back, much to my back's displeasure.

"Kaoru?" I managed, biting my lip through the spasms of my back. His eyebrows furrowed.

"You said you could tell us apart because I was the...'whiner' "he started reluctantly, then plowed on.

"But I hadn't even spoken yet. How could you possibly know I was Kaoru?"

My head started to ache-horribly.

"You..look different?"

"Yea, right," Hikaru responded snidely from his position in the dining room.

"Shut up, Hikaru," I growled out of reflex. The room spun, and for a moment, I set my elbows on the counter and rested my head on my hands.

"I came in here because you should be lying down. If you're having as much trouble as you obviously are...I'll get what you need to drink."

I looked up, surprised. "What?"

Another pair of hands on my shoulders.

"Shut up and go lay down." Hikaru said. I stared at both of them, who suddenly looked timid children. Kaoru turned to the packs of instant tea I had out.

"What _is _this? Where's the tea leaves?"

His brother joined him...oddly reminding me of me and Saya.

"Is it like the instant coffee stuff?" Hikaru asked. Still dizzy, and believing I was somewhat hallucinating from the fever, I nodded. "Except you add cold water and ice cubes instead of hot water."

They nodded. I stood there for a second, feeling extremely awkward at the sudden out of character moment we were having. Couldn't believe they actually...seemed to care. They turned, glaring.

"Goth girl, you're not needed. Go back and watch your creepy horror movie."

Nevermind. They were both their normal, self-centered, spoiled rich brat selves. I scowled, and stormed off to the couch as much as I could. After carefully laying down, I did turn on my _awesome _horror movie-but ended up closing my eyes.

_**-X-**_

The doorbell woke me.

"We'll get it!" Kaoru and Hikaru said, dashing to the front door and indeed opening it.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, what are you two doing here?"

I fumbled into a sitting position. "Kyoya?"

Kyoya did come in through the door, with a middle aged man with kind blue eyes following him.

"We're here because Reika lost to us in laser tag. She was supposed to hold up her end of the bet-but when we arrived, she looked like _this_," they pointed at me, shielding their eyes as if I was some sort of monster. I let a smirk fall into place.

"Well, at least I'm still better looking than you two."

I smiled smugly as their expressions turned to scowls.

Kyoya cleared his throat, while the doctor stepped forward, swishing his white coat. He reached out his hand, and I took it. His grip wasn't quite as strong as mine, but his smile was sincere.

"Hello, Reika. I'm Kouga Kai. Your sister told me a lot about you-I'm sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

"It's fine." I said. My eye caught a large glass on the side of the table. It was filled with ice and tea and topped with a lemon slice. I glanced up at the twins-and saw that their clothes had faint spots of dark dust covering them.

"Reika?" Kyoya caught my attention, holding a clipboard.

"Yes, that's my name. _My _question is, why are you here?" I asked, not caring about the rude tone of my voice. Kyoya raised an eyebrow.

"Because if your sickness was indeed caused by an error in one of the hospitals under my jurisdiction, it would be problematic. Therefore, this matter shall be taken care of quickly."

There was an underlying tone of..nervousness in his voice, surprisingly. The Hitachiin brothers looked at each other, obviously not missing the tone of Kyoya's voice.

"You donated some spinal fluids last tuesday for your sister, Saya Fumiko, correct?"

I nodded.

"I also noticed something..interesting about your file. It says here that in the past three years, you have gone through twenty-two surgical procedures, and had your blood drawn for donation a total of one-hundred and thirty six times."

Hikaru and Kaoru's eyes widened, and stared. Of course. I tried to ignore them.

"Yea, sounds about right."

Kyoya ran his hand through his hair, obviously frustrated. He turned to Kouga.

"I want an examination as thorough as you can provide until we get her to the hospital. Upon arrival, I want an MRI scan, and a CAT scan immediately done, as well as a UV scan."

I blinked. "Wait, what?"

He turned.

"A healthy person going through that many surgeries in such a short amount of time is bound to have repurcussions. Also, according to your sister, your back was hurting you immediately after your most recent procedure. Since you were given a light dose of morphine for pain, that should not have happened. It is very well possible that a careless idiot of a nurse didn't sanitize a needle before using it-and since it came from a cancer facility, it is entirely plausible that you may have cancer."

I blinked. "Umm...what?"

Kyoya glared at me-sending unwanted chills down my spine.

"I'm in a bind, Fumiko. Do you have any idea how this would tarnish my reputation?"

Now it made sense. My eyes narrowed. "You're an even bigger jackass than I thought you were."

"That may be so. However, your life may now be in our hands, so I'd be careful as to whom you are referring to as a 'jackass'."

A/N: Again, I am SO sorry for this late update. Technical difficulties SUCK. I'll be updating early tomorrow afternoon AND late tomorrow night-though I'm not sure how late, exactly since I have to work. Forgive me?


	13. The Moment has Arrived

The twins had been strangely silent through the whole ordeal. It made me nervous-although I still had kicked them AND Kyoya out when Dr. Kouga went to inspect my back. Kyoya was such a bastard...I'd have to do something about that laptop of his.

"Ouch." he said after removing the bandages.

"Nope. Doesn't really hurt at all," I corrected.

"So then...does this hurt?"

Before I had a chance to twist out of the way, the bastard had poked my back. I grit my teeth through the tell tale waves of pain.

"Nope, not at all."

"You're lying," he said flatly, standing up. "Well, the good news is your body is fighting it well-which means it could be a simple matter to take care of. The bad news is-this is most definitely from an unsanitized needle. And also, considering the most recent procedure, since the needle had to be inserted directly into your spinal cord, if this isn't taken care of quickly it could lead to complications."

"Complications?" I repeated. Kouga looked me in the eye with an odd expression.

"It could lead to paralysis."

I groaned. "Spectacular."

_**-X-**_

__We walked back into the living room, and immediately Kouga went to Kyoya to consult. Probably with his possible cancer results, 102 farenheight degree fever, blah, blah, blah. I rolled my eyes, carefully sitting down and grabbing my semi-fancy made iced tea. Pretty good for first timers-a little strong, though.

"So-what's the verdict?" Said the twins as they took up posts on either side of me. I scowled at the sudden entrance, and then let it go.

"I'll be fine," I replied, waving them off.

"On the contrary, Fumiko, you may _not _be fine, after all." Kyoya said, peering down his glasses at me from his position at the door. I fought very hard the urge to flip him off descreetly.

"Come along, then."

"I'm not a dog." I said plainly, offended.

"Yes, well, then I advise you to stop acting like a disobedient one."

"Well, then I advise you to take the stick out of your ass. It's obviously making you _quite_ uncomfortable," I replied, smoothly switching into Kyoya's 'I am a higher class, and far more intelligent than you' way of talking. Dr. Kouga looked horrified.

"Pffft...wow Reika, subtle." Hikaru snorted along with brother beside me.

Kyoya twitched. "Why you little-

"Uh-uh-uh. I wouldn't be mean to the customer if I were you. After all, it is your company's fault that I got into this predicament." I said easily, cornering Kyoya. From the look on his face, he'd love to commit his first homocide. However, he managed to put a somewhat lessly cool and collected mask back on.

"Very well then. Miss Fumiko, please allow us to escort you to our hospital's finest," he said, even adding in a sweeping bow. I finished the last of my tea, giving each twin a thumbs up.

"It was good." I said to them. To Kyoya-

"Well, since you asked so nicely." And I got up carefully, walking briskly past Kyoya and Dr. Koga to the waiting limo.

"We're coming too!" Announced the Hitachiins, scurrying out to follow me.

"Umm...why?"

_**-X-**_

The CAT scan, the MRI scan, and even the UV scan were all horribly boring. I knew what they were, since I had gone with Saya to nearly every scan of hers. But I had hoped going through them would be slightly more entertaining. Unfortunately, they weren't. And afterwards, they stuck me in a hospital bed and gave me pills to take and ice water to drink, claiming my fever had to go down before I went anywhere else. I hate the smell of hospitals. Hate it. Another thing Saya and I had in common.

And the damn Hitachiins wouldn't leave me alone. I glared at them from my bed.

"Don't you two have anything better to do other than hang around in the urgent care section?" I grumbled. They turned from their card game.

"Seeing you suffer is entertaining to us."

I promptly threw the rest of my water on them.

"Ew...germs." they both complained in unison. I smirked.

"Oh, you poor babies."

A small blond rocket shot in through the door frame, hugging me around the neck tightly. It was closely followed by another, taller blonde rocket, who took my hand and started valiantly.

"My poor goth ridden daughter! Fate has been so cruel to-

"WAAAH! Rei-Chan! WAHHH!" I ignored the idiot holding my hand and turned to Honey-Sempai, who was crying all over my shirt.

"Rei-Chan's sick! Rei-Chan's going to be okay, right?" He asked, looking up all puffy eyed.

"I'm going to be fine." I assured. An insanely large hand covered my forehead.

"Hmm...You have a fever."

It was the biggest sentence I had ever heard Mori utter.

"How did you guys know where I was?" I asked, looking pointedly at the twins.

"Hey, it was nothing we did." Kaoru said loudly, obviously.

"His highness just called us before we joined you in the limo, and we told him where we were going." Hikaru added.

"Yea, and they dragged me along with them." Haruhi said, coming in reluctantly through the door. She looked absolutely annoyed. I didn't blame her-I would be too. However, a second later, Haruhi was bowled over by a very fast dark haired girl in pink. She ran to my bedside and pried Honey-Sempai off my neck, throwing him to the wall (Mori caught him before any real damange occured). In the process, she also managed to kick Tamaki.

"Rei!" She said, burying her face in the crook of my neck and wrapping her arms around me.

"Saya?"

A/N: So the moment has come...Hmmmmm...


	14. Stormy Days

A/N : As promised, here is the second chapter of the day! An interesting question came up on one of the reviews you guys gave me-and that question will be answered in the next chapter. :) For now, please enjoy this one and let me know what you think. WOW guys-almost 100 reviews! Holy crap! O.O Extra long chappie tomorrow for that one-for now I'm all tapped out and I need to study. DX

"Saya, what are you doing here?" I managed through her throat choking hold.

"I was worried. I heard you went to the hospital." my twin replied, still hugging me.

"How the hell did you get here? You know you're supposed to be at the cancer ward."

She drew back and pouted.

"Like I was going to stay in bed while you were in the urgent care section."

"Umm...excuse me...who are you?" Honey had come back, and was now tugging cutely at the hem of Saya's pink frilled shirt.

"Oh, you're cute! Hi! I'm Saya-Rei is my adorable twin sister. Who are you?" Saya said with a sweet smile and her usual bounciness. Silence from the host club.

"_Twins?_" Hikaru and Koaru, of course. Hikaru folded his arms.

"You're lying. There's no way-

"Come on you don't even look alike!" Kaoru finished.

"That's because we gave up on the clone act quite a while ago. It got old." I replied pointedly. Both the Hitachiins 'hmphed' and turned away. Saya smiled widely.

"So you two are the Hitachiins that my beautiful sister talked about!" she said, walking over to them. I put my head in my hands.

"Saya don't-

"I'm so happy to meet you! I hope we can be friends!" She chiped cheerfully, grabbing them both in a hug. They both looked at her awkwardly.

"Hey! Get off us!" Koaru snapped, and they both pushed her away rudely. Saya's bright expression faltered-just for a moment, but it faltered. My eyes narrowed.

"You got a problem with her, asshats?" I growled. Saya turned to look at me with a forced smile.

"No, Rei, it's okay!"

I huffed, but let it go at her pleading expression. She really wanted to make friends with these guys. She turned to Tamaki.

"Wow! Who are you? You sure are handsome!"

Oh, boy. Tamaki filled up like a balloon, striking a model's pose.

"My dear lady, call me Tamaki. It's true, isn't it? My beauty does indeed shine brightly like the stars! Many would say it was unfair that god created such a perfect person-and it is a hard burden to bear-

"I'm sure it is," me and the twins said sarcastically...at the same time. The two glared at me for accidentally joining in on their usual 'talking in unison' thing, and I gave them a glare that I hope sent chills down their spines.

"So it's true-you and Saya are twinsies, Rei-Chan?" Honey said, sitting next to me. Mori leaned against the wall next to us, looking very ninja-like.

"Yep!" I replied with a smile. Saya turned to me, eyes wide-and gave me a thumbs up. She let out a little squeal, and bounced over to give me another hug.

"You've made friends! You've made friends! You've made FRIENDS!" She was ecstatic. I twitched.

"Is it really that hard to believe-

"Shh!" She shushed me, putting a finger against my lips.

"Yep! We sure are!" Saya piped to the group-using one hand to push back my side bangs, and the other hand to push back the straight cut bangs on her forehead. She pushed her face next to mine, mimicking my expression. Honey leaned in, staring at both of us, wide eyed. Mori let out a 'hmm', while Tamaki walked a few steps closer, staring. I was honestly starting to feel like a zoo animal.

"No-no way!" The Hitachiins were leaning against a wall, both pointing at me and Saya with disbelieving expressions.

"This is so cool!" Cried Honey-Sempai, ignored by almost everyone, bouncing back to his spot. I patted his head affectionately, before looking back at the rest of the group. Tamaki had retreated, and was rubbing his chin, in deep concentration. Oh, that couldn't be good.

"You hypocrite!" cried Hikaru and Kaoru. I raised an eyebrow.

"No-we've made an effort to show off our individuality. You two on the other hand, have not."

"Tsk, Tsk, Nee-Chan! You should be nicer to your new friends. Oh!-I know from experience that this is annoying-so please forgive me," Saya said, turning to Hikaru and Kaoru.

"Who is Kaoru, and who is Hikaru?" She asked as sweetly as she could. They hmphed, so I answered for them.

"The one on the left is Hikaru, the one on the right is Kaoru."

"You're wrong!" they both snapped, anger contorting their expressions. Why were they-whatever.

"Oh, sorry. My mistake. Tweedledum is on the left, and Tweedledee is on the right. For further reference, Tweededum is Hikaru, and Tweedledee is Kaoru." I said, sarcasm dripping from my tone.

"No." Kaoru said, his hands shaking. I stared-was he really that mad? Hikaru mirrored his expression.

"No, no no no!" they both shouted.

"You aren't allowed to tell us apart!" Koaru snapped. My eyebrows furrowed.

"That's stupid. Why the hell-

"Because we don't like you!" They snarled together, looking at me with..pure hatred. For some reason, my stomach twisted uncomfortably. A hand squeezed mine. Saya.

"You're such a horrible girl, after all," Hikaru said, bringing his voice down coolly.

"I mean, look at you. Who could ever befriend such an ugly girl?" Kaoru joined in. I didn't understand-it wasn't like all the other insults we had exchanged. For some reason...I felt small. Powerless. It angered me.

"Well, the feeling's likewise. Who the hell would ever want to befriend such twisted brats?" I snapped.

"I command all of you-stop it right this instant! Hikaru, Kaoru, apologize to your little sister." Tamaki's eyes held a deepness to them I hadn't noticed before-an anger.

"Yea, right." they said together.

"Come on, Kaoru-this is getting boring." Hikaru said, gesturing to his twin.

"Yes, it is. Where's Haruhi?" Kaoru asked on the way out.

"She must have split too. Let's go find her."

I felt a wall go up that I hadn't realized I had dropped. I took in Saya's presence next to me, and took comfort. I gave her hand a returning squeeze.

"That was mean of them. Don't worry, Rei-Chan-we'll get them to apologize and make up!" Honey-Sempai said.

"There's nothing to make up for. We were never friends in the first place." I said, feeling oddly numb, but putting a note of finalty in my voice. Saya looked at me disapprovingly.

"Well this...certainly is a mess." Tamaki said, putting a hand over his forehead. I didn't care. How stupid could I be? I was careless-I grew attatched to people I shouldn't have. I felt a glare enter my expression, getting angrier. But at myself, this time.

The comforting presence at my side left me. I faltered, suddenly feeling alone. Saya left without a word, walking out, rare anger covering her body language.

_**-X-**_

A/N: The story kind of wrote itself on this one. But luckily, it introduced the right elements I wanted added into the story at some point anyways (a little more of Saya and Reika's relationship, and how Reika's getting attached to the host club). I apologize if it seems rather random-I'll smooth things out next chapter. :D


	15. Crack of Thunder

A/N: As promised, here is tonight's extra long chapter. :D Hope you enjoy!

_**-X-**_

"Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin!" Saya sang, seeing their forms heading down the hospital hallway. They ignored her and kept walking. She caught up to them and grabbed each by the wrist, rather harshly, still smiling brightly.

"Let go of us!" one of them snapped, and they tried to yanked free of her grasp. But Saya held on tightly.

"Well, what a nasty thing to do, don't you think? So someone steps straight into your lives and can tell you apart. Oh, you poor babies." Saya said in a sing-song voice that completely contradicted the words spoken.

"Just leave us alone." The other said, in a slightly more gruff tone. Still smiling, with surprising strength, Saya pushed both of them against a wall, moving her hands to twist the collars of their shirts.

"Now, listen, okay?" It was more of a command than a question-and the twins exchanged slightly alarmed glances.

"I don't know what planet your spoiled asses are from, but on this planet behavior like that is unacceptable. If you **ever **do anything to intentionally hurt my _adorable _baby twin's feelings again, I will personally kick your asses to hell and back. Understood?" the usually sunny twin's bright expression had not changed, but her tone was indeed one to be reckoned with.

"Yea, right-we'd sue you for every penny-

She tightened her grip, still smiling sweetly.

"Are you really threatening a dying girl?"

Her eyes faltered for a moment, then went back to the deathly glare they held above her smile.

"Reika needs this chance to bond with other people. **Do not **ruin it." With that, the girl let go of their collars, and skipped back in the direction she had come.

"Nee-Chan! I'm coming!" She called merrily, completely different from the tone she had used with the Hitachiins. Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other, slightly disturbed.

_**-X-**_

"Miss Fumiko, it seems you do indeed have cancer. However, it is a viral type of cancer, and easily taken care of with a series of antiviral injections." Kouga said upon his return. Honey's tight grip on my arm relaxed.

"So Rei-Chan's going to be okay!" he cried happily. I blinked, then glared at Kouga.

"That's not how cancer works!" I snapped. What? I was grouchy. It was all those damn twins' fault. Kouga smiled with patience.

"There are many different types of cancer, Miss Fumiko. While none of the ones currently known are able to be transmitted through sneezing or coughing or the like, there are some that can absolutely be transferred through direct contact with another's blood. And unfortunately, this particular viral cancer was on the needle used to take a portion of your spinal fluids."

I stopped as a realization hit me.

"What about Saya?" I demanded.

"That is a matter currently being taken care of by one of our doctors." Kyoya, entering the room. I glowered-I really didn't like him.

"Don't panic-she seems to be fine. I ordered them to run extra tests just in case."

"Is that why she didn't come back?" I demanded. He pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose.

"Oh yes, she did come over to this section of the hospital when she wasn't supposed to. A couple of my employees caught her and escorted her back to her room."

Just to add to our questions, Tamaki started howling.

"Where is Haruhi? Where is my daughter? My beloved, sweet, daugh-

"She went with Hikaru and Kaoru and left the hospital," Kyoya deadpanned. Kouga was eyeing Tamaki as if he needed a mental examination. Which honestly, I was pretty sure he did.

"What? Those perverts will molest my pure daughter! I must go!" and with that he dashed off to who knows where. Leaving me with Honey, Mori, and Kyoya. And the weird doctor.

"Anti-viral injections?" I said as a question. Kyoya opened his mouth.

"I would like to hear it from the actual doctor who went through medical school, not a high school student, please."

A small, irritating smirk crawled across the pale idiot's face. Kouga cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"There are four shots-the first two will be injected directly into the affected area-

I let out an audible groan. Damn it.

"The second two can be given in the arm," Kouga finished. I held my head in my hands, ignoring the fire splitting across my back.

"How soon can I go home? I have work tomorrow." I gtrumbled.

"I'm afraid not that soon, Miss Fumiiko. You'll have to stay until all the shots are given, and there's a two day period between each set." Kyoya said, sounding _very _upper-class. It annoyed me. Extremely.

"Like I said, you haven't gone through medical school yet. Therefore, shut up, you over-priviledged bastard." I snapped, overly volatile. Kyoya cocked an eyebrow at me.

"You must really not like me, Fumiko."

"There's nothing likable about you." I replied flatly. To Dr. Kouga, who looked ready to piss his pants, I snapped, "Grow a backbone!"

"Rei-Chan, please be nicer. They are taking care of you, after all," Honey-Sempai said, giving me puppy eyes. I huffed, but fell silent.

_"We don't like you!"_

I shook the memory from my mind. Why did it bother me so much?

_**-X-**_

The shots did hurt, by the way. They hurt like hell. I slept most of the rest of my stay at the hospital-an unfortunate, unavoidable side-effect of my body and the shot's anti-viral stuff working to rid my system of the cancer. I was told Honey-Sempai and Mori visited daily, though.

_**-X-**_

I returned to school gladly-I had been bored out of my mind. I was feeling a lot better-physically, anyways. For whatever reason, I was still irritated with what the twins' had said. It wasn't normal-usually I just brushed off something like that.

So when I walked into the classroom for first hour, I did my best to ignore said twins. I took out my new sketchbook, and began drawing-didn't have a clue what exactly I was drawing, though.

"Hey-welcome back, Reika," Haruhi said, tapping me on the shoulder as she sat down next to me. I tensed.

"Hikaru and Kaoru aren't with me. What happened between you guys, anyways? Usually you'd be throwing insults at each other by now."

I turned my head. "Why would I waste my time on those idiots?"

Silence. I peeked, and saw Haruhi with her curled hand resting on her chin, deep in thought. Her eyes turned to the twins for a moment, and then she turned.

"How are you feeling? It's good to see you back in school." she said. Some part of me was relieved at the change in topic.

"Much better, thanks. How was your weekend?" I asked.

"Oh, it was great, except when the host club decided to once again show up on my doorstep randomly." she said, an exhausted tone in her voice, yet her body somewhat cringing.

I raised an eyebrow. "So they do weird things regularly."

"Yes, unfortunately. I'm glad you're on board with us, though."

I paused at the unexpected comment, and the warm smile Haruhi flashed me. _Us..._it had a nice ring to it. I took a glance at the Hitachiins, who were trying to look busy but watching Haruhi fromt he back of the room like a couple of hawks.

_"We don't like you!" _...I cringed at the memory involuntarily, blinking. An odd wetness seeped through to my eyes. I brought a finger to the eye that was the wettest-when I pulled it away, a clear chrystral drop shimmered on my fingertip.

My eyes narrowed, and I brushed it off quickly on my jeans. I felt Haruhi's stare on me, and turned to keep drawing as though nothing happened. She asked no questions, which relieved me. At that point, the teacher came in, and our attention was redirected.

_**-X-**_

"Hey Haruhi, watcha doing after the club?" Hikaru asked as he and Kaoru came up to her and each put an arm around her shoulders.

"Going home, I guess." she replied.

"Well in that case-

"You should take us-

"To a commoner's activity!" they finished together, grinning and striking a ridiculous pose. Haruhi had a very obvious 'I don't wanna' expression written on her face. She looked pleadingly at me.

"Do you want to come, Reika-chan?"

The twins turned a glare to me. I glared back, challenging them back out of reflex.

"No ugly goths allowed." They said, somehow managing to put every ounce of venom in that statement. Haruhi blinked, surprised.

"I want her to come-

"No, it's fine." I said, packing up my things and shouldering my bag quickly.

"I don't hang out with freaky clones, anyways." I shot back, giving Hikaru and Kaoru a side glare before heading out. My stomach curled, and my eyes prickled.

Why was I so upset? I tried to brush it aside as I walked. More than ever, I wished Saya was next to me right then. I hadn't felt so alone in a while. And I didn't even have my phone-the host club hadn't given it back yet. Frustrated with how the situation was affecting me, I closed my hands into fists and put more energy into my walk.

_**-X-**_

Unfortunately, I also had the next class with the Hitachiins. Come to think of it, most of my classes were with the Hitachiin brothers. Damn it all, anyways. I sat down in the farthest corner from the Hitachiins and Haruhi, burying myself in my sketchbook again.

"Hey, Kaoru, you know what kind of girl I absolutely can't stand?" Hikaru asked, his voice purposefully carried over the mostly empty classroom. What girls there were turned an ear towards the twins for notes. I snorted.

"Yea, me, too." Kaoru said, as if he already knew what his brother was thinking.

"Gross goth girls!" they said in agreement. Haruhi stood there hopelessly as they gave a side-glance towards me. I turned back towards my drawing, ignoring them pointedly.

"After all, they're so creepy, wearing all black all the time." Hikaru continued.

"After all-Halloween was months ago. How stupid could you be?" Kaoru joined in.

"Then you two should take off your masks." I said coolly. A few guys in the class snickered. Haruhi stared-being too smart to miss the change in tone from our usual bantering.

"I mean really-she doesn't even wear make-up." Hikaru started, completely ignoring me.

"She should start-

"Fumiko really has a lot to cover up." they ended together, back to the Hikaru-Kaoru-Together thing.

_**-X-**_

The next few hours weren't any better. They kept pointedly insulting me, and every so often I'd throw an insult back, and be ignored. Haruhi's expression grew darker with every hour we had together.

_**-X-**_

I chose a seat secluded from the rest of the students in the cafeteria, taking out my boxed lunch. Mom hadn't said much or visited when I was in the hospital-she had been too busy with Saya when I had come back, and I had slept most of the time anyways. But she _had _made a special lunch for me as an apology. And so I sat down to a meal of specially made rice balls with assorted ingredients in them.

There was a shuffling, and then someone sat next to me.

"Came on Haruhi-let's sit somewhere else."

"No."

I looked up, surprised at her stubborn-ness.

"You two can go sit somewhere else, but I'm sitting here."

...Whoa. I snapped to attention in mid-bite, reeling my head around. I caught site of the Hitachiins glancing at each other, then sitting on the far side of Haruhi. My eyes narrowed as anger bit at my stomach, and I stood up, turning to wave to Haruhi.

"Sit." came the very firm command from a usually quiet Haruhi. I sat down, gulping.


	16. Trouble Sprouts

I gingerly took a side glance to Haruhi. She was eating her sweet potatoes silently, with a hard expression. She took a second bite, then looked at the twins. The twins shrank back timidly. I raised an eyebrow at their response.

"Now-one of you is going to tell me what happened," She said matter-of-factly. I glared pointedly at Hikaru and Kaoru. Hikaru, the oh so grown up one, pulled the corner of his eye down and stuck his tongue out. Immediately, he was knocked on the head by Haruhi.

"Knock it off!" she snapped. "Now, tell me what happened, all of you!"

I glowered. "Be damned if I know. Those two morons out of the blue threw a hissy fit when I pointed out that Hikaru is Hikaru, and Kaoru is Kaoru."

Haruhi turned to the twins, slowly. "So you don't like people telling you apart, is that it?"

"No, no, that's not it." Kaoru said placatingly.

"We're okay with it when _you _do it, Haruhi," Hikaru added in. Then they threw a side glance to me.

"Plus-we don't like her," they said in unison.

"Yea, well, I don't like you guys either." I said, getting up. I had had enough of this.

"Sit. Down." Haruhi growled. I ignored her.

"See ya later, Haruhi." I said, waving goodbye, and then hightailing it out of there.

_**-X-**_

Unfortunately, despite our dispute, I still had to attend the host club for Saya's sake.

However-that didn't mean I had to interact with the Hitachiins.

As usaul, Honey-Sempai bombarded me the moment I walked into the door.

"Rei-Chan!" he cried happily, launching himself from Mori's shoulders and clinging to my neck like a little kid.

"I can't wait to hear you sing again, Rei-Chan!" he said excitedly. I smiled half-heartedly, patting his head.

"Thanks, Honey-Sempai."

His expression fell. He looked at me intently. "Are you alright, Rei-Chan?"

I blinked, surprised. "Of course-I'm fine. Feeling much better-no more cancer!"

"That's not what I meant, Rei-Rei."

I rubbed the back of my head. "Really? Then what do you-

"It's because of Hika-Chan and Kao-Chan, isn't it?"

"No! Who'd care about those idiots!" I snapped without thinking. I bit my lip, hoping I hadn't hurt his feelings. But he just smiled, an odd knowing look in his eyes. It creeped me out.

"Rei-Chan, you're lying. Here! Have some cake, it'll cheer you up for sure!"

I smiled, accepting the carrot cake he plaintively procured out of thin air. As usual, it was amazing cake from the first bite.

_**-X-**_

I sat down on the piano bench with my pile of songs for the day, and began to play. I bent into the microphone to sing-and froze when an odd, high-pitched sound came out of the loudspeakers. The piano blared uncomfortably where my hands had slammed against the keys in surprise, and everyone in the host club and their customers turned to look at me in surprise. Some looked annoyed, some looked worried. All except a certain pair of red-headed twins, who kept their faces carefully masked mid twincest flirt. My eyes narrowed as I pushed the mic away from me.

"Hikaru! Kaoru! Who the HELL gave you permission to mess with my music corner?" I roared.

"We didn't. That's how you sound naturally," they replied. I got up off the bench.

"Hika-Chan? Kao-Chan? You might want to run, now. Rei-Rei looks really mad." came Honey-Sempai's voice. An idea struck me, and I let a smirk cross my face.

"No, it's alright. They were just having fun, weren't they?" I said cheerily, gritting my teeth the whole time.

"I'll just sing without the microphone this time."

_**-X-**_

I didn't have to wait very long for the perfect opportunity to cross. After all, the Hitachiin brothers were flirting with each other at least once every five minutes. As Hikaru's face drew closer to Kaoru's, in mid song I casually tossed one of my smaller notebooks at the back of Kaoru's head. The guests staring at me covered their mouths, gasping slightly as their eyes followed the notebook's path. Incidentally, the Hitachiins were in the perfect position for it, and Kaoru bumped right into Hikaru-accidentally kissing him. They both froze, losing their usual cool demeanor. I grinned, pausing my song for a moment.

"Score!" I allowed myself a small moment, then continued. "-Rising from the ground, like a sky scraper-"

Kaoru and Hikaru jumped a part, a look of horror on their faces. I grinned, giving up on the song. I grabbed the replacement microphone (Kyouya had somehow managed to get it), taking it off the stand and putting on my best announcer face.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it seems Kaoru is the twin who wears the pants in the Hitachiins' incest driven homosexual relationship."

I couldn't keep the grin off my face as they both turned towards me, their auras darkening. A comforting sense of normalcy returned, and I nearly sighed in relief. I blinked and pushed the oncoming confusion of that reaction, instead putting the usual smirk on my face. I put the microphone back into position, everyone's eyes now on me, the guests irritatingly all having the same reaction-watching me like some sort of circus act. Honey-Sempai had a hand over his mouth, brown eyes wide-Mori's expression was, as usual, unreadable. Kyouya had a hint of a smile upturning the corners of his lips. Tamaki's jaw was just about touching the ground. Haruhi...I wasn't sure what she was thinking.

But I was having _waaaay _too much fun. I directed my next statement to the Hitachiins, who were looking ready to murder.

"So, shall I sing a love song in celebration of this wonderful new...development?"

Unexpectedly, the girls wearing yellow umbrellas roared into cheers of approval. I grinned-I knew the perfect one. The twins started towards me darkly, but Kyouya caught them by the back of their collars, an amused smirk on his face. I didn't hear exactly what he said, but it was somewhere along the lines of "Mustn't disappoint our guests."

And so I wrapped up the club with 'Forever in Love'. It was an awesomely fun song to sing, anyways-even if it hadn't been dipped in sweet, sweet revenge.

_**-X-**_

My backpack, strapped to my shoulders, was suddenly grabbed and I was pulled towards the doorway.

"The hell-

"Haruhi! Let go of us!"

"No. All _three _of you are coming, and we are going to the movie theatre."

I looked at the Hitachiins beside me, and for a moment we mirrored surprised looks. Realizing we had done the same thing _at the same time, **again**_, I huffed and turned away.

"I don't want to hang out with them." I complained to Haruhi. Haruhi looked down at me with a hard, rage-filled gaze. I gulped and shut my mouth.

_**-X-**_

"Hey Haruhi, let's pick something interesting to watch." Hikaru said as we looked at the options. Haruhi bit her lip.

"Hmm...Reika, Kaoru-what do you think?" Haruhi asked. Kaoru shot a withering glance at me-which I returned ten fold-and then let a gentle smile cross his face as he turned to Haruhi.

"That one looks interesting," he said, pointing to a movie that was obviously about a romance in the feudal times. I snorted.

"Boy meets girl. They fall in love, but OH there's a twist. Their love is FORBIDDEN so they have to fight for it. Guy ends up dying for girl, or they get married and move to Switzerland. The end. Next."

Both of them glared at me.

"We only suggested that one because the girl was pretty." They said together.

"Kaoru was the only one who-

They cut me off.

"It's a relief-

"From having to stare

"At goth girl."

Haruhi, impossibly, somehow reached up and landed a fist on each of their heads.

"Quit being idiots! None of you are allowed to insult each other for the rest of the day-got it?" She sounded really mad.

"They were the ones who threw insults," I replied.

"And you're the one who embarrassed us in front of the whole club." they shot back.

"Oh, poor babies. What happened to your 'oh so smooth' confidence?"

We were all bashed in the heads by Haruhi. I stood up, rubbing my head and making a mental note to dodge the next one.

"Knock it off!" Haruhi roared. The cashier behind the ticket booth looked slightly scared, I noticed.

"Okay then," I said, walking cheerfully up to the cashier. "Four tickets to _Grenade_, please." I turned back to Hikaru and Kaoru.

"I'm not paying for you."

They scowled.

_**-X-**_

The movie was pretty good. Full of military kick ass action, just like I had hoped. I sat on one side of Haruhi, while the twins sat on the other. However-they were the ones with the popcorn.

"Hey, Tweedledee, hand over the popcorn."

Soundlessly, Haruhi reached over and smacked the back of my head.

"No way ugly goth girl." Came the twins' response to my polite request. My stomach twisted...again from their tone. Haruhi glared at them, and Kaoru reluctantly handed over the popcorn, wincing. I checked it carefully before grabbing a handful. My eyebrows went up at the huge explosion that sparked on the screen.

"Whoa! Kaoru that was awesome!" Came a loud whisper from Hikaru, whose brother nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Tweedledum, shut up!" I hissed, ducking another smack from Haruhi. Hikaru opened his mouth, but shut it instantly at a look from the girl sitting between us. He settled with sending a death glare my way. I sipped my cherry ICEE, decidedly turning my attention back to the movie. I wouldn't pay attention to those idiots at all for the rest of the movie-I wouldn't.

A few minutes later, Haruhi tapped my shoulder, asking for the popcorn wordlessly. I handed it over, and turned back to the movie.

Mid kung-fu fight, I reached over into the popcorn bag in Haruhi's lap...and grasped nothing. I blinked, and then looked over.

"Haruhi, how the hell did you finish an almost-full jumbo sized pop corn bag in fifteen minutes?" I asked. Both twins turned, glancing in the bag, and then covered their mouths to muffle mirrored snickers.

Haruhi frowned and put a finger to her lips. "Shhh."

Sighing, I grabbed the bag from her lap. "I'll go get a refill." I announced in a whisper, and got up, moving for the lit up stairs to the left of us.

**_-X-_**

I stood outside after getting the refill, deciding I needed a break. I had lost interest in the movie, to be honest. At this point, I wanted to visit Saya. I stared up at the blue sky, letting out a breath slowly.

****"Hey cutie-whatcha doing out here all alone?"

Without looking up, I replied. "Fuck off, I'm not in the mood."

"Why don't you hang with us for a little bit?"

Apparently I had been ignored. "I said, _fuck off. _In other words, you dumbass, no."

"Ahh, come on honey, don't be like that."

I paused to look up-there wasn't only one person. It was five. Five very tall, muscular looking guys with unnaturally pale faces. An odd smell hung around them. I wrinkled my nose.

"You're all crackheads!"

Now, I wasn't too bad in a scrap, but I wasn't an idiot. I started to shoot for the movie theatre entrance, only to have one of them (a guy with greasy brown hair) grab my arm and slam me rather harshly against the wall of the building.

"Stay a while." he leered. I glared, realizing there was only one way out of this. I swung my leg upwards, catching his chin with the toe of my sneaker. "Ow!" He howled, wheeling back and clutching it.

"Sweetheart...you shouldn't have done that," said a taller, more pale gang member with a crazed look in his eyes. I readied myself as they all came towards me.

A/N: I know-it's been too long! *sob* Life caught up with me and took me away from this beautiful, wonderful, fanfiction for a few days. NOOOOO! screamed my imagination. My imagination was very sad for quite a while. I hope you liked it!


	17. Trouble Finds Its Match

I studied the crackheads as they approached. Two of them were uneven in their footsteps, and almost all of them had a glazed look in their eyes. To be honest, the only one who looked like they'd most likely be the worst was the brown haired one.

Now, I hadn't had any training or anything-I never really got around to it. But my dad and I had always wrestled when I was younger-so I had a sense of how to look for openings and plan my movements before I made them. Immediately, I realized I would have to use my size to my advantage. The two closest to me lunged, and I ducked and threw myself forward, staying low, hooking an arm around another and tripping him. I headed for the door of the movie theater-fully aware that once I got in there, people would break it up.

I hit the ground hard-on my face. I twisted, kicking the guy who had grabbed my foot in the nuts. He swore, and I jumped to my feet-but found myself surrounded. I scanned quickly, and found there was no way out except to plow my way through-and that wouldn't work because I was too small.

Shit.

_**-X-**_

"Guys-it's been a while since Reika left. Maybe we should go check on her." Haruhi suggested.

"She's probably just fine." Hikaru said off-handedly.

"She probably ditched." Kaoru added. Haruhi turned to both, a scary gleam in her eye.

"Which is exactly why we should go catch her."

The twins shrank back as Haruhi got up.

"Come on." she commanded. Reluctantly, the Hitachiins followed.

"You know-" Hikaru whispered to his brother.

"Sometimes Haruhi-

"Can be kinda scary," they finished together, glancing at Haruhi's back warily.

_**-X-**_

I was in deep shit. And I knew it. They were close enough together that if I went to attack one or two of them, they'd all jump on me. I'd lose immediately.

"So, which one of you is the leader?" I asked, trying to stall.  
>"Me!" One of them proclaimed proudly-a blonde.<p>

"Really? Shouldn't the brunette over there be the leader? He looks smarter."

"Yea!" the brunette agreed.

"Shut up Renji," snapped the blonde, and all attention was suddenly on the two. Wow, they certainly didn't have much for brains, did they?

"Or maybe he should be the leader-he has the best image!" I added, pointing at a black haired one.

"Ken? He's too stupid!" Blond-boy said. 'Ken' clenched his fists and swung one at blondie.

"Shut up. You're the one that's stupid!"

Blond-Boy growled and tackled 'Ken'. I took my chance and ducked out. I was home free! Until a huge hand clamped tightly onto my shoulder.

"Nice try-

I reached up and slammed my elbow into the lighter brunette's cheekbone, twisting out of his grip at the same time, then bailing like a bat out of hell.

"Hey guys-she's getting away!"

So close! I reached for the handle-and then suddenly found myself on the ground. I blinked dazed, as pain danced numbly along my skull and face.

Two shadows, one large and one small, landed over me, standing in the way of me and the group of thugs.

"You guys hurt Rei-Rei." came a growl.

"Honey-Sempai?" I growled, blearing through the black dots in my vision. I felt the world start to swirl. Shit, was I seriously going to lose consciousness over one little blow? Pathetic.

Someone grabbed my arms and lifted me to my feet, and then up over two shoulders. I saw red hair.

"You seriously couldn't even get popcorn on your own?" they said flatly. There were cracking and smacking sounds in the background.

"Shuddup." I said, finding it oddly hard to talk. "I canp walp om my owm. Pud me dowm."

"Ooo. Your face is definitely swelling up badly."

"You don't look pretty, that's for sure."

Seriously?

"Dang, he's really going at it." they mirrored each other suddenly.

"Mitsukini. Enough-you'll kill them." Came the quiet, yet resounding voice of Mori-Sempai. Unfortunately, and pathetically, I passed out.

_**-X-**_

"You guys are taking her back to your house?" Haruhi said, looking at the unconscious Reika on the Hitachiins' shoulders.

"Yea. It really is a bother, though. We'll have to call the family doctor and everything." the twins' replied, walking off towards the limo. The five guys that Honey-Sempai had gone after were now in..umm..critical condition, and thrown in a pile-much like discarded trash. It would have been much worse-after Mori had interrupted Honey, he had gone over to examine Reika, and had nearly gone back at the limp, unconscious bodies of the thugs. Mori had, thankfully, stopped him.

Haruhi watched her two best friends walk away carrying Reika. Despite their sharp words, she could tell the worry that lined their eyes and trembled in their body language. She smiled, glad that, even if they themselves didn't know it, the twins were becoming quite attached to Reika.

_**-X-**_

I woke up...somewhere that was definitely _not _my room. Or my house.

"Oh. You're awake."

I snapped around at the sound of their voices. The two Hitachiins were huddled over a laptop in the corner of the humongous, peach-color themed room. A pit of horror settled in my stomach.

"Where am I?" I asked, afraid of the answer, feeling a soreness on the left side of my face.

"The Hitachiin mansion." They both replied.

I immediately rolled over on the non-sore part of my face, throwing the over-expensive blankets over me. Maybe if I went to sleep, I'd wake up somewhere else.

A/N: So here's the next chapter! :D I kinda like it. Updating tomorrow night too!


	18. The Rose Blooms Again!

A/N: thank you guys SO much. I couldn't have made this chapter without you guys-and I got out of my writer's block rut. All of your reviews and your private messages-thank you, you guys! Gave me lots of ideas, lots of places to continue this-and there have been frequent requests in them, and while this chapter may not reveal a whole, lot, it will set up a whole bunch of other chapters for success, as well as hopefully fullfill as many requests I can while adherring to the original plotline. Enjoy!

"Oi, get up. It's annoying, having to sit around waiting for you to wake up." Hikaru snapped. I didn't move, and as a result, an awkward silence resounded.

"Why did you bother bringing me here?" I asked finally, giving them a sideglance.

"Hell if I know." Hikaru scoffed, turning away. Kaoru sighed, getting up and walking over to the bedside.

"The swelling's gone down, but there's no way concealer's going to cover that up. Geez, you really get into trouble easily, don't you?"

I blinked, startled by the lack of iciness in his tone. Gathering myself, I put a frown on my face.

"Shut up Kaoru." I replied, eyeing him cautiously.

He sighed again, looking between me and Hikaru. Hikaru scowled and shook his head to some unspoken question between them. Kaoru turned to me.

"Well, _I'm _sorry for _my _behavior. It was immature of me to shut you out like that."

Hikaru stormed out, slamming the door behind him. My stomach twisted uncomfortably again, and I responded in anger. "What the hell is his deal?"

"We're not used to people being able to tell us apart. When someone does, it feels like someone's crossing a barrier of sorts that only those close to us should be able to cross. And as we just met you, we both reacted rather...vehemently when we realized what was happening."

I blinked at the most civil sentence Kaoru had ever spoken to me. He was different without his brother, wasn't he? Almost like he was less of a pain in the ass.

"Don't worry-Hikaru will come around. He's just-

"The stupid one." I finished for him. Kaoru smiled humorously.

"Sometimes, yes."

He turned to me.

"How about I show you around the mansion?"

Warily, I accepted his offer.

_**-X-**_

__It was odd, walking around with Kaoru. The mansion was huge, with indoor pools and even an indoor bowling alley, along with many other rooms. But what un-nerved me was that Kaoru was talking civilly to me. Nicely, even. No bantering, no arguing, nothing.

It was scary.

"And here is the tennis court." he was saying, pointing at yet another room. I raised an eyebrow.

"You're kidding me. Who puts a tennis court inside their _house_?" I asked, peering inside. Indeed, it was a tennis court-complete with skylights and fake grass. Holy crap.

"Apparently, us."

I twitched at his non-chalant mood, shrinking back a few feet warily. He looked at me questioningly.

"Somehow, I feel like you're going to randomly pull out a spray gun or _something, _and I don't have any weaponry."

Kaoru snorted.

"Like I'd be that stupid. Besides, it's no fun pulling pranks on you without Hikaru."

"You just know you wouldn't stand a chance against me on your own." I challenged, offering him bait.

However, he didn't take it. He just let a small smile play across his lips. I frowned, feeling distinctly like I had been left hanging. An awkward silence snapped between us.

"Well, that's pretty much all of the mansion."

"Oh." I replied awkwardly. Finally, I turned to Kaoru, staring at him. His skin didn't seem pale, or anything.

"What...Why are you being _nice _to me? No offense or anything, but we're not exactly pals." I managed to throw out cautiously. He extended a hand to me in response, a smile warming his face. I backed away...slowly. There was seriously something wrong here.

"Well, maybe I'd like us to be."

The look on my face must've been hillarious, because he about keeled over laughing. I stared at Kaoru, confused. That had to have been a joke, right? I watched him continue to laugh. Yep, definitely a joke. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I watched Kaoru pull himself together. He put a hand on my head, still chuckling. I stared at him, then rolled my eyes upwards where his hand was, nervous for some reason. I debated whether or not to take Kaoru's hand and use it to smack him with.

"You're something, you know that? Usually when someone says they want to be friends with someone, they're not stared at like they're insane."

His expression changed, and eyes bore into mine.

"But I was serious. I really would like us to be friends, at least."

I did the only thing that made sense at that point-I backed away from the crazy person and ran.

_**-X-**_

"Hey Hikaru-thought you'd be here. Think you could help me find Reika? She ran off." Kaoru called upon finding his twin-exactly where he thought he'd be. Hikaru was in the mansion's gym, with the rock music blaring. Hikaru looked down from the treadmill, touching a button on it to lower the music's volume. But just a tad.

"Why do you care so much about her, anyways?" Hikaru snapped, irritation covering his tone. Kaoru immediately understood-Hikaru was jealous, and upset that he had sided with Reika, and gone off with her without warning.

"Because I like her."

In true Hikaru fashion, Hikaru froze on the treadmill, falling flat on his face as a result. He picked himself off the ground, wiping away a bloody nose.

"You're kidding, right? There's nothing to like about her."

Kaoru stayed silent. Hikaru blinked.

"You're...you're serious," he realized in disbelief. A few seconds passed, before Kaoru responded.

"She's fierce, and has a mind quick as a whip. Despite the front she puts up, she's extremely loyal to those closest to her, and easily thinks nothing of self sacrifice. She's independent, and talented in a lot of ways. The more I get to know about her-the more captivating she becomes to me."

Koaru's hands tightened into fists. "I really do like her."

Hikaru stared, not knowing what to say. Kaoru ended that dilemma for him.

"It took a while for me to decide to do with these feelings once I realized I had them. I've made my decision, but I don't know if it'll work out, though. And it's too early to tell. Even just now-

his face twisted up slightly, but enough that his twin noticed.

"I told her I wanted to be friends, and she looked at me like I was crazy and ran."

Kaoru paused for a moment, before continuing with a different expression.

"But I'm not giving up. I'm going to keep pursuing this, and try to get closer to her."

Hikaru stared at his twin for a few seconds silently. Confusion welled up inside him from conflicting emotions. Finally, for reasons unknown to him, he stormed out, not even bothering to turn off the music or equipment left behind.

_**-X-**_

I had managed to find my way outside, thank god. The endless maze of halls of the damn Hitachiin mansion gave me a headache. For the meantime, I was smack-dab in front of a fountain-the grounds were also ridiculously large, so it'd be a while before I found my way out, and home, completely.

Oh, and did I mention the fountain was of a guy peeing as the sculpture? For some odd reason, it seemed to be a recurring rich people theme. 'Oh, I'm rich now-quick, go buy a fountain decorated with a guy pissing in it.'

"There you are!"

Oop-time to go. I got to my feet, looking in the opposite direction of Kaoru's voice, and taking off at a jog. Unfortunately, he quickly had a hand wrapped around my wrist. I shrank at the physical contact.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, taking on the 'twin' tone...minus one twin.


	19. Kaoru Procures A Bouquet

"Where are you taking me?" I snapped, irritated as Kaoru dragged me across the grounds. And I do mean dragged-I had my feet firmly planted in the ground, anchoring me against his movement. The arm he was using to drag me along was starting to ache-but I wasn't about to tell him that.

"Oh, out." Kaoru replied, a mischevious smirk crawling up his face. Definitely not good.

"I don't want to go 'out'. I would like to go home." I replied, reaching out and catching a tree trunk firmly with my other arm. We jerked to a stop, and Kaoru looked at me, an amused expression on his face.

"Having fun?" he teased. And that was just it-it was a tease. Not a taunt, like normal. I stared at him incredulously.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded, un-nerved. Kaoru broke eye contact and looked off to the left somewhere. He pointed.

"That's not going to-

"It's been a few days since you've gone horseback riding, right?"

"That's not the-

I paused, as my eyes had curiously darted to where he had pointed-just for a second. And stayed there. My mouth opened and closed several times as I tried to figure out exactly what the hell to say as Toby was paraded past us by one of their maids-frankly giving the maid a hard time by leaning back on the flat halter they were using and dragging his hooves. He was followed by a bright bay, fully saddled.

After a moment, I realized Kaoru was staring at me. I snapped to attention, my eyes narrowing.

"Since when is it okay for you to randomly grab my horse out of his pasture and trailer him out here without my permission?"

He sighed.

"It seems the maids assigned to him were unable to tack him up-apparently he kept biting and kicking out." he replied, completely avoiding my question.

"They were probably being rude." I snapped to my equine partner's defense. An odd smile cracked up on Kaoru's face. I eyed him, thoroughly freaked out. Shouldn't he be pissed off and bickering with me now?

"What are you up to?" I found myself saying, more of an accusation than an actual question.

"Like I said-I'm taking you out. And I'd rather not have you kicking and screaming, so I did the only thing I thought might prevent that."

There was something in his voice-nervousness? I scanned his body language-his shoulders were held slightly forward, tension throughout his body. But his eyes, underneath the amusement he was trying to portray, held an odd seriousness-like he had decided something. It killed the retort rising in the back of my throat.

"What about Hikaru?" I found myself asking feebly, noticing that there wasn't a third horse. Something flashed across Kaoru's face-it was quick, but it was there. His smile was forced as he replied.

"He decided he'd rather do something else."

"Liar." I spat. Kaoru's expression dropped, eyes wide.

"Something's up. I can feel it-I'm not an idiot. You two are usually tied at the hip-as twins should be. Instead of trying to hang out with me, you should be working out whatever glitch you two have. I'd say you two were trying to pull something, but-

His expression, solemn underneath the shock, proved what I thought to be true as I continued.

"-you're too upset about Hikaru for that to be true."

Kaoru avoided my eyes. I glared.

"So stop being a _moron _and go make up with your twin already!"

Kaoru's silence irritated me further. However, at that point, I was distracted-Toby had heard my voice and was currently heading my way with a decided walk and a happy expression, dragging the exasperated maid with him.

A hand slipped around my wrist with a softer feel. I blinked, and narrowed my eyes, ready to bite out a protest.

"I was right."

Huh? I looked up, and found Kaoru staring at me with an odd, soft expression-his eyes were shining with happiness.

"What do you mean you were right?" I snapped, jerking my wrist free. Kaoru let go easily, the unnerving smile still on his face. Silence resounded, until he finally responded.

"I'll make up with Hikaru-I promise. But for now-let's go out. On a date."

I blinked, unbelieving as his sincere expression pierced through me oddly. At that point, Toby reached me, shoving his nose against my hand contentedly-but his affections were, for once, not responded to.

"Wha-No!"

A/N: ^_^ Super happy with this shortie, I am. :D Let me know-I'll be updating tomorrow night too!


	20. I Shall Be Back SoonJkayChase

First off, I'd like to thank you all for your continued support and interest in this story. That's really a blessing for an author. :) Second, I came to know I do have a plan for the next chapter of this story. Whether it will come out in a week, or two, I'm not sure. I can't put an exact date down on it yet. The next couple of weeks is the end of high school for me (I go online). I'll be focusing on that a lot, as I have been, because that's important. I've also been training my two year old (horse), which in and of itself is a learning experience that requires quite a bit of studying and open-mindedness. On top of that I have a job that's taking up more time, and will be taking up even more time because I need to start saving for college. However, the main thing that may keep me from this story for at least a couple weeks will be the fact that my mom's pretty sick, and it's worrying me to the point where I can't think of anything else, let alone write a story. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate cigarettes? She has chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and has been on oxygen for about a year, maybe a year and a half (and still smoking). There's also something wrong with her hip that even the surgeon can't figure out, and it's causing her quite a bit of pain. The other night she was sitting up in a chair and just randomly blacked out. Just stared into space for a moment, and then started collapsing sideways. She can't even walk on her own anymore. So yea. A lot's been on my mind. Thank you guys again for your support, and be patient in understanding that life does take us away from stuff sometimes, and trust me when I say this story is not dead. Or, if it is, it will be coming back to life when I can think straight and have time to do so.


	21. Trail Ride of Unexpected Consequence

"You like me."

I, for the millionth time, turned around from my position on Toby's back, shooting my best glare at the red haired twit.

"No, I do not. And get that idiotic grin off your face-it's creepy."

The smile turned into a twin-smirk. I sighed. "Not what I meant, wacko."

"Why do you keep denying it? It's not like your feelings aren't returned."

Heat spread through my face.

"Lay off, would you?" I snapped.

"I bet you're blushing, aren't you?"

Toby let out a sigh, sounding exactly as I felt.

"Come off it. And give your horse her head, would you? She's panicking from being held back," I added, seeing once again the rolling whites of the eyes of his bay mare, and seeing her dance along the trail behind Toby's slow plodding walk.

"But then she'll run." he replied plainly.

"Then ride it." I snapped. Kaoru's eyes sparked with amusement.

"But that'd be no fun."

For the past half hour, for whatever reason, Kaoru had kept insisting on the topic of the ridiculous notion that I liked him.

"Hey-has your mom come out with any new designs?" I threw out, turning to face forward on the forest trail again.

"You're not getting out of this that easy," Kaoru's smooth twin tone came uncomfortably close to my ear. A jolt shot through me as he rested an elbow on my shoulder, trying to hold back his mare with one hand. What the hell?

"Ouch!" Kaoru cried, jerking back suddenly, his mare jumping slightly to his yelling. I was suddenly aware of the decidedly stiff walk Toby had taken, pinning his ears and swishing his tail. Kaoru reeled back, clutching his hip.

"He bit me!" He accused, swinging a finger to point at my painted monster.

"You invaded his space without permission. Of course he did." I replied, less snappy than I originally thought. I took a hand and ran it slowly down the length of Toby's multi-colored mane, causing his ears to flick back towards me and a sigh to run down the length of his body, taking the grouchiness out of his frame. Kaoru fell silent.

"You said give her her head, right?" he said, and before I could turn to see what he was doing, his mare took off.

"You moron!" I snapped, and with a quiet signal, Toby tore off after them. One of Toby's better quirks was that he was fast AND he could jump high. However, we had to catch up with them quickly if at all, because the type of mare Kaoru was riding was bred for endurance, and Toby was not.

It was obvious Kaoru wasn't an experienced rider. The way he was sitting on top of the mare was too stiff, and against her movements. If she turned suddenly or jumped or bucked, he'd fly off.

I buried my hands in Toby's mane and urged him faster. An ear flicked back towards me, and he _really _took off. The trees were a blur around us, the wind tearing tears from my eyes. The only thing in focus at this point was the bright black tail and brown hindquarters of the mare, and Kaoru's red-haired form awkwardly riding her. Why didn't he wear a helmet again?

As we caught up to them, the path opened up into a clearing. I seized the opportunity.

"Bend her in a large circle!" I shouted. Kaoru's oddly determined face nodded, and he took a rein and pulled the mare into a bend. I aimed for the center of the clearing so I could clearly see what was going on, and sat up. Toby's hooves sank into the ground, stopping instantly. I cringed as I saw the mare's terrified, unresponsive expression as she tore around the clearing, taking Kaoru with her. I considered telling Kaoru to bail, but there was a determination in his tense form that told me he wouldn't even if I told him to. What the hell was the idiot trying to prove?

"Alright, now take one rein and slowly make the circle smaller and smaller, until you have her bent around and her nose is touching your boot. Sit back and push the front of the saddle with your other hand, to keep yourself anchored. "

There was an odd strength in Kaoru's form as he did as I said. The braced form of the mare was forced to bend, smaller and smaller, until she was dancing in tight circles on our left, chasing her tail.

"Just ride it. Ride it until she relaxes to a stop, and then release her."

A wry smile crawled up the red-head's face as he spun in circles. For the first time, I noticed his face had been drained of color. So now would not be a good time to chew his head off.

"Well, what a ride, eh?" I joked, surprised to hear the tone my father had when a similar situation had cropped up when we first bought Toby.

Kaoru looked up, surprise covering his features as he continually spun. Insanely, I found myself cracking up. And then Kaoru started cracking up. Soon, it turned into full blown out, uncontrollable laughter. Somewhere in the middle of it, the mare stopped, where-upon Kaoru let go of the reins. When she darted forward unexpectedly and Kaoru had to bend her again, we laughed harder.

A belly ache made itself known, and I tried to control my laughter. Finally, somehow, I managed to stop. Somewhere in the middle of it, the mare had stopped and relaxed.

"I have no idea what that was about," I said finally, an idiotic grin refusing to leave my face.

"No kidding. I've never seen you laugh like that."

I frowned. "You make it sound like I'm unhappy."

"Well, sometimes you look like you are."

I paused, and then Kaoru's mare tensed.

"Bend her."

"Where did you learn all this stuff? You seem like you know what you're doing."

"My dad. Rehabilitating horses was kinda our thing," I said, feeling another smile creep up my face.

"Did Saya train horses too?"

"No. She tried it a couple of times, but never really got into it like dad and I did."

"Where's your dad now?" Kaoru asked, an innocently curious look in his eyes.

A stab of sadness flashed through me. It really...wasn't the same training horses without him. I bit back a familiar sense of loneliness and answered.

"He died of the same cancer Saya has."

Something odd flashed in Kaoru's eyes, and I rushed onto the next sentence.

"No, but he chose it. He didn't want to go through with the treatment anymore, so it's okay. He wanted to keep his strength so he could spend the time he had training horses and spending time with the family."

Awkward silence. Damn it.

"Do you still rehabilitate horses?"

"No...Toby's the last Rehab. Saya has Takuto-he's an off the track Thoroughbred."

Silence. I snuck over at Kaoru, and found to my surprise he had a small smile on his face.

"What made you decide to keep Toby?" he asked. I eyed him suspiciously for a moment.

"Dad gave him to me. He was the only horse with my name on his papers, so when mom went and sold the rest, I could keep him." I replied, wording my sentence carefully, hoping the orange haired twin would miss what hadn't been said in the sentence. Hikaru would, no doubt.

"Why did your mother sell your horses?"

Obviously, Kaoru was not Hikaru. I fell silent. To be honest, a part of me was still angry at mom for selling the horses dad and I had worked so hard to rehabilitate. She hadn't even sold them to proper owners-she had trucked them off to an auction. I swallowed.

"It was for the best." I said, repeating what mom had so honestly said. Kaoru's eyes flashed with..something. I shifted uncomfortably.

"Hey-you know, you're not such a hard-head when you're alone."

I sputtered.

"And you-you're stupid."

My cheeks flushed with the pathetic-ness of my comeback.

Kaoru grinned a chesire cat grin.

"Is that all? Of all the comebacks-

"Shut up."

"Another spectacular comeback. Hitachiin Kaoru wins this round."

My eyes narrowed, and Toby gave a decided snort.

"No you don't."

"Oh? How's that?"

"...You suck."

Kaoru's chesire grin grew wider, if at all possible. Toby's ears flashed back as my only warning as Kaoru once again drew uncomfortably to the side of my face. Irritation seeped through me.

"Kaoru, do you always have to-

Instead of the usual awkward drawlings that he and his brother liked to usually say while being snooty, an odd pressure on the side of my cheek. Wait-did he just-

Toby let out a squeal of protest as I watched Kaoru flash past on his once again bolting bay mare, this time in the opposite direction. An odd weakness set in as I realized what had just transpired. Then anger.

"KAORU HITACHIIN, GET BACK HERE!" I snarled, tearing off after him on Toby, both of us chasing with crabby expressions.

A/N: Thank you guys so much for your support and loyalty. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^_^


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